Broken
by ToujoursMiraculous
Summary: Adrien and Marinette have run into quite the rough spot, and can't even stand to look at each other anymore. It's up to Tikki and Plagg to try to help them fix things! But what happened exactly, anyway? Time skip. Post-reveal.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Inspired by NateWantsToBattle & Cristina Vee's cover of Attention by Charlie Puth. I listened to it tonight, and this was the result!** _  
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* * *

 _Ugh. It's the_ cat _again_ , Ladybug said in disgust to herself.

Chat Noir had just shown up on the scene. As soon as his eyes drifted to the red superheroine a few feet away from him, his expression went dull.

"Ladybug," he forced a greeting, his fake politeness filling the air.

"Let's just get this over with," she said with the utmost loathing and venomous tone she could muster.

Chat let out an irritated nasal noise, but whole-heartedly agreed, and let out a grunt of agreement. The less they had to be around each other, the better things would be for the both of them.

It was a simple akuma attack, nothing that couldn't be taken care of quickly. In actuality, neither of them really paid much attention to the details of the akuma villain, as they were too focused on the thought of finishing up so they could get out of each other's presence.

When they had defeated the akuma, and Ladybug had purified the dark butterfly, they went their separate ways without another word or glance.  
They would do their job to protect the city, but that's when their time together ended.

Arriving home in her dark and lonely apartment, Ladybug flung in through her curtained window she had left open on her way out, and detransformed the second she was out of possible peeping eyes.

"Marinette, you should talk to him," Tikki whined immediately. "Adrien-"

Her eyes flashed with fury as soon as his name was mentioned.

"Uhh," Tikki said nervously, scolding herself mentally for her lapse of judgement. "I'm sorry. I just really think you need to work this out. With _words_."

Tikki thought about the last time they had seen each other, something that she usually tried to forget. She grimaced at the memory.

Marinette rolled her eyes, "And say what? What he did-!"

"What about what _you_ did, Marinette? Blame goes two ways in this case. You _both_ did wrong, now you _both_ need to fix it. And to do that, you need to talk to each other."

"I won't," she flat-out refused, her arms crossed stiffly across her chest. "I'll only talk to him if _he_ comes to _me_."

And with a swift turn, she stomped out of the room, leaving Tikki alone.  
"Oh Marinette..." she whispered with a sigh. "Why do you have to act like this?"

Then an idea struck her. If she could just talk to Plagg...

Tikki glanced towards the door anxiously, and after hearing Marinette grumble something she couldn't make out in the other room, assuring her that she wouldn't be caught, she glided out the window.

The sky was clear, the moon nearly full so there was plenty of light for Tikki to see. She eased around buildings and chimneys, jetting up, down, left and right, until she had reached Adrien's place.

His new residence was nice, much classier and extravagant than the average Parisian home, but it didn't measure up to the mansion he grew up in. Adrien wanted it that way, he didn't care as much about having material things. Not to mention, a massive but empty home wasn't inviting, and he certainly didn't want to live in another prison of a house.

Thankfully, as she approached she noticed Adrien kept one of his window's open, so Tikki had an easy time getting in unnoticed.

"Come on, kid, this is getting ridiculous!" Plagg said sternly. "Can't you just talk to her?"

Adrien clucked his tongue. "Why should I? You see the way she acts around me, I think that ship has long since sailed."

"Kid," the cat Kwami raised an eyebrow at his stubborn Chosen. "You didn't exactly try to fix anything. What do you expect after what happened? She has the right to be mad, and after what she did, so do you. But you can't stay mad forever," he suddenly spotted a stack of Camembert on Adrien's coffee table, and floated down to eat the savory, gooey stuff.  
"You hurt her, she hurt you, now you're hurting each other _because_ you hurt each other... Honestly, I don't get you humans. But from being around them for sooo many years," he dragged it out, an annoyed edge in his voice. Adrien still had no idea how old his little pal really was, but now wasn't the time to care about a trivial matter. "I do know that at some point, you're going to have to talk it out. And admit that you were wrong and say you're sorry. I know that's important to girls."

"But she-!"

"No!" Plagg scolded, throwing a small piece of Camembert at Adrien's face. "Don't focus on what _Marinette_ did- Oops!" He knew better than to mention her name in his presence, but unfortunately his tongue slipped.

Adrien's eyes went wild with pain and anger, his body tensed, and his jaw clenched.

"I can't," was all he said through his teeth before he left the room for the other side of the house.

"Way to go," Plagg mumbled to himself with a large piece of cheese in his mouth.

Tikki stared at the door Adrien had walked through for a moment to make sure he wasn't coming back before she let herself be known.

"Pssst, Plagg!" Tikki whispered, waving her little hands in the air.  
His ear twitched when he heard her.

"Tikki?"

She nodded, and waved him over to her very urgently. "I can't stay long, Marinette doesn't know I came here and I want to keep it that way. But I needed to talk to you."

"Does it have to do with our infuriating Chosens?"

Tikki just sighed in response. "I can't exactly say I blame them, but..."

"But this could be at least sorted out anyway if they just spoke like rational adults."

"Can we really blame them for not being rational about this?"

"...No," Plagg replied thoughtfully after a moment. "I guess not."

"She cried her eyes out that night, you know. Marinette hasn't been the same since," Tikki said just above a whisper.

"He hasn't been the same, either. Not at all. I thought things were bad when I first came to live with Adrien, but this has been much, much worse."

"Well I have an idea that I think can get them talking again at least. It'll put them on the right track anyway. Think you can help me?"

Plagg snorted. "Ahh please! Look who you're talking to, Tikki! I've got this. Tell me what you need me to do."

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 **AN: Since it was a spur of the moment idea, please let me know if you'd like me to continue! Thank you.**

~ ToujoursMiraculous (also my Tumblr name if you want to follow me!)


	2. Chapter 2

"Can't I just call in sick today?" Marinette whined the next morning. "I didn't sleep well, and I've got this headache and-"

Tikki wasn't having any of that though. She had a plan. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng, avoiding what she loves doing the most? Staying home isn't the answer, you have to go to work!"

Marinette grumbled, but she knew Tikki was right. And she couldn't afford to skip out on a day of work, so she proceeded to get ready for the day, fighting the continuous urge to run to her bed and hide under the covers forever.

When she had arrived at work with Tikki safely tucked away in her purse, her boss didn't give her a moment to breathe before pulling her along to the very back of the store.

"Marinette, we had a very important last-minute client come in, and he needs his suit repaired immediately. Everyone else is unfortunately too busy to do it, otherwise I wouldn't ask..."

"Oh it's no problem, Sophie. It's just fixing a suit," she shrugged, a pleasant smile began to form on her lips... until she spotted the man sitting in the chair before her, waiting. Her smile quickly vanished.

Sophie dragged Marinette off to the side a moment.

"I know you have some er, issues with Mr. Agreste, and I never would ask you to do work for him if I could prevent it, but that's just how things worked out today. I'm so sorry, Marinette," she whispered her sorrowful apology to her most talented and trust-worthy employee.

Marinette knew her boss wouldn't assign her to Adrien unless it was absolutely necessary, but somehow she still felt betrayed by her. A fake smile was plastered on her face, but her eyes and insides screamed in protest. She had to fight the urge to burst into tears.

"Like I said, it's just fixing a suit," she whispered weakly, before attempting to take a deep, cleansing breath and standing up as straight as her shaking frame would allow. "Don't worry."

Sophie gave her a concerned look. "How could I not?" she muttered under her breath, sparing another anxious glance at Marinette as she whisked off to help a client.

Marinette approached Adrien, who had his attention focused on the sleek silver tablet he held in his hands.

"Ahem," Marinette cleared her throat. "What can I do for you?"

Adrien didn't bother to look up and meet her eyes. "Oh, it's you."

She pretended that she hadn't heard anything. "What needs fixing on your suit?"

"My sleeve has torn off a little," he pointed to his left shoulder. Surely enough, some of the threads were coming apart.

Marinette motioned for him to hand the blazer over, and with a bit of an aggressive yank of his jacket, she took the garment over to her work space. She got to work on it right away, not once looking up at what was going on around her.

Though Adrien couldn't help but glance up from his tablet every once in awhile and stare at Marinette. Each time he did this, his shoulders slumped even more, and his frown grew deeper, more prominent on his flawless face.

Abruptly, he cleared his throat and shook his head to clear away the thoughts in his mind, and tried focusing on his tablet instead.

Several minutes later, Marinette stitched in the last thread. She made sure to do her best on it so he'd have no reason to bother her anymore with anything.

She looked up from her desk and saw Adrien working intently on his tablet in his perfectly tailored light grey suit, minus his blazer,of course.

She hadn't realized she had been staring at him until Adrien looked up at her again. Her eyes went wide for a moment, before she scrambled out of her seat.

"Your blazer's ready," she muttered, handing it over to him. He gave it a quick look over, and put the jacket on, adjusting it slightly before he glanced at his shoulder. It was perfectly stitched up, as if nothing had ever happened in the first place. Maybe even a better job than the person who stitched it in the first place. Of course he would expect nothing less from Marinette.

"Thank you."

Marinette nodded, and began walking away. Adrien reached out his hand towards her, but he stopped himself before he reached her. Instead, he collected his bag and tablet, and headed out of the shop when there was sudden and loud noise on the street.

He noticed people running and screaming, and of course, that could only mean one thing.

He sighed, and jogged back into the business.

"Akuma," Adrien whispered in Marinette's ear, she jumped at the sudden noise and proximity.

"Oh!"

They ran to the bathrooms of the massive and very famous shop to transform. Despite their issues, they were always in perfect sync. Most of the time, even before everything went wrong, they knew what the other was thinking or what the other was going to do next. It made fighting akumas and other villains fast and easy, but now another benefit was it made being around each other more bearable.

Neither were going to let personal problems interfere with saving their city, so they swallowed their pride and feelings, and fought Paris side by side, without any of the people catching onto what was really going on with their beloved heroes.

They hadn't always been alone though. Ladybug and Chat Noir had several team members, but they were currently all away from the city for school and work, so the Original Duo, as some people call them, were once again the only heroes that could keep the people safe for the time being. And nothing was more important to Ladybug than the citizen's safety.

Ladybug and Chat Noir didn't take long to defeat today's akuma, which was little surprise for either of them. But what happened next was very unusual.

She stopped in her tracks suddenly, and made a low humming noise of confusion and uncertainty, something Chat Noir hadn't heard in awhile.

Then he felt what he assumed she had too.

There was an overwhelming urge to go to the TV station. But why?

"Something's up," Ladybug said, quickly removing her yo-yo from her hip, and flung it at the nearest building.

Chat Noir followed silently behind her without hesitation.

The TV station was empty, most of the lights off. The fact that everyone was gone in the middle of the day heightened their suspicions, and they went up several floors to the studios.

Slowly and carefully, they entered one of the rooms, the doors automatically shutting behind them.

"I'm not sure why I was led here," Ladybug mumbled, looking around every which way for signs of trouble.

"It's not just you, something's telling me this is where I need to be."

They stood there in silence for a few moments, and without warning, they suddenly detransformed.

"Hey!" they cried in surprise, jumping backwards.

Tikki and Plagg flew out of their Miraculouses, and faced their Chosens.

"What's going on?" Adrien demanded.

"We - we were the ones that led you here. We're really sorry, but you two really have to talk," answered Tikki.

Marinette made a very annoyed noise, and was already walking towards the door while she explained. Tikki and Plagg quickly flew ahead of her, and with a brief apology from them both, they phased through the door, the clicking of the locked door reverberating around the room, leaving them alone inside with nowhere to go, and nothing to do but be in each other's company. 

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**AN: Decided to continue this fic because of all of you. Thank you for letting me know what you thought of the first chapter, and I'd love to hear more for you all, so please leave your comments! c:**


	3. Chapter 3

"Tikki!" Marinette screamed, banging her hands on the thick, metal door. "Tikki! Come back here!"

Adrien joined in, trying to get the Kwami's attention. "This isn't funny, Plagg! Plagg!"

There was no response of any kind on the other side.

Marinette cursed loudly, kicking the door as hard as she could. She quickly walked as far away from the door and Adrien as possible, looking around for another way out.

"Marinette," Adrien called. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach at the sound of him saying her name. "Maybe they're right... We should talk about it."

"Or we could just find another way out of here."

Adrien sighed. "I don't know why you're this mad at me. Especially not to the point where you won't even talk to me."

Marinette froze in place, clenching her teeth.

 _ **One month ago**_

 _"Chat, what are you doing?" Ladybug giggled, pushing his face away with her index finger, as his face was only a couple of inches from hers._

 _Chat's grin grew wider. "Just getting a closer look at your beautiful eyes, m'lady. Has anyone ever told you they're like the shimmering ocean in the middle of a sunny day?"_

 _"Wh-" Ladybug started, her face going red. "Be serious, Chat!"_

 _"I'm being plenty serious, Ladybug."_

 _She made a grumbling noise in embarrassment, and smoothly changed the subject._

 _"Can you help me inform everybody about the latest news that's been going on here? We need to talk to them about Whirlwind. Especially Queen Bee and Doragon."_

 _Chat Noir stood upright, his posture changing as the topic became professional again._  
 _"Of course. I can call Queen Bee, Emerald Turtle, and Serpent."_

 _She nodded, staring down at her yo-yo. "I'll call Doragon, Vixen, and Lapin Marron then."_

 _But before they could finish dialing, the sky suddenly grew dark, and the wind picked up._

 _"Whirlwind," they said in unison. Of course._

He was a villain that they were never sure how to stop. He showed up one day, and after finding out he was not associated with Hawkmoth and akumas, they had to figure out other ways to deal with him. Each attempt to get rid of him sent him away, but only temporarily. They also couldn't seem to figure out what he wanted.

Fighting Whirlwind, with just the two of them, was a challenge, and that's just putting it mildly. And whenever Ladybug and Chat Noir are faced with a difficult situation, Cataclysm and Lucky Charm are inevitable, which frequently led to some close calls.

" _Ladybug, you're about to change back!" Chat warned her when her earrings beeped for the fourth time._

 _"Can you handle the rest without me?"_

 _"I've got this cat in the bag, don't worry m'lady!"_

 _Ladybug grinned, shaking her head at her partner's confidence and overly-used pun. Suddenly Chat was thrown backwards through the air, and before Ladybug even had a chance to react, Chat smacked into her, knocking her down to the ground._

 _"Me-ow," Chat groaned loudly. It took him a couple of seconds to realize he was pinning Ladybug down to the ground. And that she didn't have her eyes open._

 _"L-Ladybug?" he lifted himself off of her slightly so he could caress her face. She groaned when he touched her, and he quickly pulled his hand away. "Are you okay?"_

 _"I'm fi-" she began to answer, when a bright light appeared around her and Ladybug was no longer lying there. But instead, it was his friend and old classmate._

 _"Mari... Marinette?"_

 _She covered her face quickly, not only because she felt embarrassed, but because she didn't want somebody nearby with a camera to be able to capture her on film and identify her._

 _Chat quickly got himself off the ground, and helped get her up on her feet. She continued to cover her face as Chat led her to a nearby alley, where she slowly removed her hands._

 _He stared at her for a few moments, before he let his transformation go, and Adrien was left standing there, his mouth gaped and bright green eyes wide._

 _She mirrored his expression exactly, only her eyes were a bit more wild. They stood there without a word for a few moments, simply staring at one another, their expressions unchanging, when a massive gust of wind blew through the alleyway. The two looked up at the sky fearfully._

 _"Go!" Adrien hollered at her through the howling wind as he gestured frantically for her to leave. He screamed something that she couldn't make out through the noise, but it triggered his transformation and he was Chat Noir again right before her eyes._

 _Marinette escaped the alleyway, and watched from a distance as Chat Noir sent Whirlwind away again, undoubtedly to pay Paris another visit some other day._

 _After she made it back home, she sat by her phone, waiting to hear from him. She was positive that she would hear, considering she knew very well how much Chat Noir always wanted to know who she was. As the years went on, he had become much more eager to find out._

 _But the day ticked on, and soon day became night, and night became day again. She still had yet to hear from him._

 _"Why hasn't he tried to contact me, Tikki?" she asked the next morning during breakfast._

 _She shrugged. "Maybe you should message him?"_  
 _Marinette peered down at her phone, Adrien's picture and contact info staring back at her._  
 _Letting out a long sigh, she reached for her phone and began typing._

 _"_ _ **So about yesterday... are you okay?**_ _" she asked._

 _She waited. And waited even longer than she told Tikki that she would. But still, she received nothing back._  
 _Then she tried to call him, but he wouldn't pick up, even though his phone kept ringing._

 _Occasionally throughout the day, she tried calling him, but to no avail._

 _That night, Marinette went out with a friend from work who had noticed she seemed to be a bit down._  
 _"Come on, it'll make you feel better!" her friend Hailey had insisted. "We can go to the theater and see a show, and then eat as much ice cream as we can before we puke! I know how much you enjoy doing that."_

 _Marinette gave a slight smile, waving her hand as if to tell her to stop. "Okay okay, I'll go. This time though let's not eat_ too _much. Mr. Dubois said if there's a repeat of 'the incident', that we're never allowed back. And I cannot risk losing my favorite ice cream parlor!"_

 _"Atta girl!"_

 _Sadly, her attempt to cheer her troubled friend had unfortunately backfired._

 _The buzz of people and the anticipation of seeing a new production did raise Marinette's spirits immediately, but as they were walking towards their seats, Hailey spotted someone familiar._

 _"Hey, isn't that Adrien Agreste with Paris' newest fashion design star and model, Aimée Simon?"_

 _Marinette's head turned in the direction Hailey was looking. At first she beamed, knowing that not only Adrien was here and she could finally talk to him, but a designer she idolized was there too._  
 _But when she took a couple of seconds to take in what she was seeing, her smile vanished._

 _Adrien was standing off to the side with her, his arm leaning on the wall. He had a toothy grin on his face, one that reached his eyes. He looked down at her, looking very happy and carefree._  
 _Aimée too was smiling, looking very comfortable in his presence. She brushed her hair back behind her ear, and began to fiddle around with the collar of the blazer he was wearing. He laughed at whatever it was she had just said._

 _From where Marinette stood, they clearly looked intimate. Any bystander would agree with her conclusion._

 _"I have to go," she rushed out, and ran past Adrien and Aimée._  
 _Hailey tried to follow her. "Marinette, wait!" she cried._

 _Adrien heard her name being called, and looked over just in time to see Marinette's face for a fraction of a second and she went by. Was she crying?_

She knew it. He was disappointed that Ladybug turned out to be Marinette. That's why he had been ignoring her, and why he was here with her. There really was nothing special about Marinette. No wonder he'd be interested in Aimée, as she was beautiful and extremely talented as well as famous and rich.

What was she, in comparison to all of that?

Just a girl he knew that was a complete clumsy dork, that he probably only put up with and was kind to because he felt he had to.

Just the girl that had pushed him away and teased him for the last 8 years, never once returning his feelings.

What was she, really?

 _Marinette kept her head low, trying to fight away the tears and the breakdown that was fighting to come out from deep in her very core until she was alone somewhere. However, she bumped into someone on her way out._

 _"Sorry," she mumbled, and took a brief glance up at the person. He had a familiar face, but not one that she cared to ponder. He had light brown hair and hazel eyes that currently looked very anxious._

 _"Don't worry about it," he said kindly once he realized the woman was clearly distraught. "Are you alright?"_

 _But she didn't answer, and instead sped towards the exit, her friend at her heels._

 _"Is she okay?" the man stopped Hailey in her tracks._

 _"It's nothing serious, Marinette just got a bit of a shock," she informed the stranger while she was on her way out._

 _"Marinette...?" the man said to himself thoughtfully._

 _Before Hailey could catch up with her friend though, she witnessed her climbing into a cab and was being driven away..._

 _ **The present**_

"I could ask you the same question," Marinette fumed. She noticed the stairs over on the other side of the room, her eyes following them up on the second floor. To her relief, there was a door on the second floor. And if she had anymore luck left, that door would be her way out so she could escape the torment.


	4. Chapter 4

Marinette determinedly marched up the stairs, while Adrien thought about what Marinette said, the exact reason why he wasn't exactly friendly with her anymore, either.

 _ **One month ago**_

 _Adrien ran after Marinette, wanting to find out what was wrong._  
 _He turned the corner just in time to see Marinette run into Gage, his co-worker whom he loathed vehemently._  
 _Gage had his arms wrapped around hers as he caught her when she began to stumble backwards after colliding with him._

 _Seeing him touch her caused fire to course through his veins. Adrien wanted to shout her name to get her to stop, but he didn't want to draw unwanted attention._

 _When he saw her rush out the door up ahead, he immediately regretted not yelling out to her._

 _That night he went home, his mind racing and his heart troubling him._  
 _What happened? Why was she so upset? Should he ask her? Was she alright?_

He wanted to know, but he also knew he wasn't ready to talk to her yet. She was his Lady, the girl that he always felt drawn towards for reasons he couldn't explain. Someone he had always thought the world of. The one that he became more and more nervous around with each passing day. She and he both had been away from Paris during separate times for school, work, and travel over the last few years, but whenever he did get to see her again, it was very special to him.

The last time he saw her - prior to his permanent return to Paris after a 6-month stay in Taiwan, and her return from her trip to Italy - happened to be, because Nino had mentioned meeting up with Alya and Marinette where they used to hang out as kids. Before Nino had even finished his sentence, Adrien was racing out the door, on his way to see her.

 _Adrien sat on his bed, staring down at his phone he had laying right in front of him._

 _ **So about yesterday... are you okay?** glared back at him, as well as an adorable picture of her Nino had gotten from Alya, whose hope and intention was that it would be passed along to Adrien's possession. Marinette was unaware that he, or Nino for that matter, even had her picture._

 _"I'm more than okay, but are you?" Adrien wanted to ask her, but somehow this conversation didn't feel right over text._  
 _After debating a million things in his head of what he should do, he finally settled on seeing her the next day. He didn't feel ready to talk to her, especially not knowing how she felt about Chat turning out to be Adrien. There were definitely a lot of encounters of theirs that now felt awkward or embarrassing now that he looked back on them, so he had no idea how she might feel about this._

 _Though he knew that something was wrong, and he wasn't about to sit back and speak to her only when he was ready. If she needed him, he'd be there, no matter how nervous and scared it made him._

 _Before turning in for the night, Adrien decided to ask his Kwami what he thought was wrong with her._

 _"How would I know?" he had said while he was curled up on top of the pillow next to Adrien's. Plagg opened one of his eyes, and let out a nearly silent sigh. He did in fact know what was wrong, but he thought it best not to get involved - at least not yet._

 _The next day came, and Chat Noir was leaping over buildings, on his way to see Marinette. He had a pit in his stomach the entire way over._  
 _But when he arrived, she wasn't home. So in the off chance she was somewhere nearby, he started looking for her._  
 _And surely enough, she was at the nearest little park... but she wasn't alone._

 _Chat got closer to them, but still out of sight from her, and hopefully others nearby._

 _"...it was incredible, the way it all came together. I'm impressed!" said a male voice that Chat recognized, and instantly felt infuriated by._

 _"That was nothing, really. I've had to deal with far worse situations," she let out a breathy, slightly uncomfortable laugh._

 _"Like what?" the voice asked, Chat was trying to get a good look at him through the leaves of the tree he was hiding in, but all he saw was the guy's brown hair. And that voice was enough to make him involuntarily hiss._  
 _A phone rang, and the man answered, sounding disappointed at whatever he was being told._

 _"I'm sorry, I have to go, Marinette," he informed her as he stood up. "There was a problem with the suit I'm going to be modeling tonight and they need me to come in."_

 _"Oh no, what's wrong with it?"_

 _"They made a mistake with my measurements and need me to go in so they can adjust it. Nothing too serious. I don't mind, really. Anyways... would you be up for finishing our conversation over coffee tomorrow morning?"_

 _"N-no, not at all," she stuttered in surprise._

 _"Good," he said, his voice very clearly indicated he was grinning. "I'll text you where later. See you tomorrow."_

 _"See you, Gage," she waved, watching him walk out of the park._

Gage _... Chat Noir grasped the branches he was holding onto so hard in his anger that they snapped from underneath him, and he began falling out of the tree. The noise drew attention to himself, and Marinette looked up to see Chat scrambling to stay up in the tree._

 _"You know you're not actually a cat, right?" Marinette jeered._

 _"Ha ha," he replied without humor._

 _"What were you doing in the tree, anyway?"_

 _"So you're going out with that guy?"_

 _"What? I asked you what you were doing in the tree, don't change the subject."_

 _"Just answer me."_

 _Marinette let out a sigh of annoyance. "Why does it matter if I am or not anyway? And you know what, never mind, I don't need you to tell me what you were doing in the tree, clearly you were there to eavesdrop."_

 _"You really should stay away from him," he warned, brushing off the leaves from his cat suit and hair._

 _"Oh? Why's that?"_

 _Chat just glared in silence._

 _"And you can't even tell me a reason why," she stated with another annoyed laugh, rolling her eyes and shaking her head. "I'll hang around whomever I want to be around, just like you," she mumbled the last few words before she turned away from him to leave._  
 _"I was here minding my own business with Gage when you dropped in to listen to us."_

 _That name brought out the very worst in Adrien, especially coming from her. He had to focus on his breathing to keep himself from shaking._

 _He stood there for a moment, deciding whether or not it would be smart of him to answer her, when he decided calming down was his best option._

 _"I have to go," he forced out, and the next second she was watching him zip away above the city._

 _Marinette opened her bag to let Tikki out. "What is_ wrong _with him?"_

 _"Maybe he's jealous?" she suggested._

 _Marinette shook her head. "Right. Why would he be? He's been ignoring me since he found out about Ladybug, and instead of answering me, he was out with the prettiest and most talented girl in Paris. All I did was agree to have coffee with Gage. He's an important client of ours, so of course I'd want him to be happy coming to_ Fil de Un Tailleur _."_

 _"If you say so..." Tikki sighed. She could feel a storm was coming, and she hoped that Paris wouldn't be caught up in it._

 _"What did you do that for?!" Plagg scolded Adrien when he reached home and let his transformation end. Adrien shied away at his Kwami's sudden anger. Plagg was rarely anything but sarcastic, annoyed, and hungry. Anger was at the very bottom of the list of emotions he was capable of._  
 _"You should've just talked to her! She asked you questions, and you ignored her. You just made the situation_ much _worse!"_

 _Adrien grumbled and plopped down on his couch, tossing his left arm over the back._  
 _"I'm sorry, Plagg! I can't help it, Gage just... why does it have to be_ him _of all people?"_

 _The cat Kwami flew up to Adrien's face, his big green eyes piercing into Adrien's. "So you were angry and irritated with her because she was just talking to a guy in the park and agreed to have coffee with him? You were the one spying on her, you didn't have to stay and listen. Haven't you ever heard the expression 'curiosity killed the cat' before?"_

 _He glared down at Plagg. He knew deep down inside that he was right, but the green-eyed monster flared up inside him, and Marinette had to be caught up in the middle of this. The thought of her dating Gage made him really angry, even at her, he realized._

 _Adrien's ringtone went off, echoing around the room. Aimee's picture and name was on the screen. He quickly picked up the phone, and headed out of the room, leaving Plagg alone._

 _"This is bad...This is seriously bad..."_

 _ **The present**_

As Marinette approached the door, part of Adrien was begging for the door to be locked. That part of him wanted to be forced to stay in this room with her, because he had a piece of hope that if they just talked, everything would be okay again. The other part of him did not want to talk about his feelings and his anger, he didn't want to explain himself to her. Even if he did, would she listen? Would she believe him?

The half of him that wanted to talk and work things out was disappointed when he heard the creaking of the door, and saw the light pour in the dark room from above.

* * *

 **AN: I want to thank all of you who have commented that I can't reply to. I appreciate it very much! To those I can, I'll be working on replying back to shortly.  
I very greatly appreciate hearing what you guys think and your opinions and feelings on this fic, as it's helping me get this written up! c:**

I will be attempting to write and post a chapter of this each day, as this was never meant to become a full fic, and I want to focus on finishing _From Where You Are,_ as well as continue _Betrayal_ and get _What Could Be_ rolling (the last one requires a lot more time and attention!)

 **And for _All Mixed Up_** **readers wanting me to continue, I will once I feel like writing pure fluff. XD**

Thank you so much guys!

~ToujoursMiraculous


	5. Chapter 5

"Wait Marinette!" came a voice behind her.  
She turned around to see her Kwami with another, that she immediately knew to be Plagg, Chat Noir's Kwami. He had mentioned him recently during one of their patrols, when they still did those together.

"Plagg?"

"Whatever it is you think is going on, you're wrong!" he warned before Adrien came through the heavy door.

"...What?" she whispered. How would he know what she thought?

"Plagg, I can't believe you did that! Apologize," he demanded angrily.

"I'm sorry," he said sincerely.

"Tikki, you too," Marinette added.

"Sorry Adrien," the little Kwami hung her head slightly.

Satisfied, with one last look at Marinette, whose strange expression had confused him, he told Plagg it was time to go home.

"Remember what I said," Plagg had stayed behind to whisper before gliding back to Adrien's side.

Marinette stood in place, puzzled from his words.  
"Tikki, what did you guys say while we were in that room?"

"Nothing we didn't know already," she said simply. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah..." she replied, her mind clearly elsewhere.

 _ **Two weeks ago**_

 _"So there's this show tonight that I'll be in, and I was wondering if you'd like to come?" Gage had asked her, somewhat nervously during what had become their daily coffee routine. He adjusted his tie while he waited for her to respond._

 _Marinette had taken a bite out of her pastry when he had asked, so she took a moment to chew._  
 _"You want me to go see one of your fashion shows?"_

 _Her tone made him relax. "Yeah, but only if you want to. I want to introduce you to a couple of people, and I have a surprise."_

 _"A surprise?" she raised her eyebrow, intrigued now._

 _"You'll find out when you come. I'll pick you up at 6 tonight, okay?" he said as he got up from his seat, grabbing his jacket from the back of the chair and putting it on. "If I don't leave now, I'm going to be late."_

 _Marinette smiled. "Wouldn't want that! I'll see you."_

 _He smiled at her, and gave her hand a gentle squeeze before he walked out the cafe door. She heard the jingle of the little bell when it closed._

 _She sighed, and looked at her hand a moment. It was a nice feeling, being with someone where things were relatively simple, uncomplicated. But her heart just wasn't in it at all. Because as upset and angry as she felt, her heart was with Adrien, and she knew that would never change. Her heart didn't race when she saw Gage, and butterflies didn't assault her stomach when she saw him smile. And when they touched, she expected for her hand to tingle, and feel as if an electric current passed through her, like it would whenever Adrien touched her._  
 _This greatly disappointed her._

 _Her phone blew up suddenly. She forgot to put it on silent, and she realized it was pretty loud in the small cafe. She looked around at the others in the room sheepishly as she answered._

 _"Hello?"_

 _"Hey girl!" her very best friend in the world greeted enthusiastically. "How are things going there?"_

 _"Hey Alya! Things are going well here, for the most part. Work's been great, we got a few new important clients to work with, the bakery's been doing extremely well as of late, and I started seeing someone..." she crammed that last bit of information in as quickly as possible._

 _The other side of the line went silent._

 _"...Alya?"_

 _"...You and Adrien got together and I MISSED IT?!"_

 _"Um, I said 'someone', I didn't say it was Adrien..."_

 _"Explain," she demanded._

 _Marinette sighed, and glanced around the cafe for any familiar faces that would overhear. The only people left in the small shop were the owner and an old man sitting in the corner with his nose buried in a newspaper. The couple that gave her a look when her phone went off must've left._

 _"Okay, well this guy I ran into a couple of weeks ago asked me for coffee one day and it sort of turned into a daily thing, and well..."_

 _"Who is he?" her tone remained serious and skeptical._

 _"His name is Gage Leroux."_

 _"Gage Leroux? As in Gage Leroux, the famous super model that works with Adrien, Gage Leroux?"_

 _"Yeah..." she dragged the word out in confusion. "Why are you saying it like that?"_

 _"Because Adrien absolutely hates the guy! Yeah, he's good for the camera's not to let the press get wind about it, but he told Nino about him once, and then Nino mentioned it to me."_

 _This was definitely news to Marinette. Adrien hating someone seemed very unlike him, as he even got along with one of the most obnoxious people she had ever known, so he must have a really good reason for it, if this was true..._

 _"I don't understand though Marinette, what about Adrien?"_

 _"Uhh, what about him?" she tried to say innocently, but her voice went high pitched, which Alya very well knew meant there was certainly something up._

 _"You've only had feelings for the guy for what, eight years now? I really don't know how things have dragged on this long, but just a couple of months ago, you were still as in love with him as you've always been. Maybe even more. You can't tell me that you've moved on now."_

 _Marinette tried to open her mouth to speak, but she really didn't know what she could say about it. She certainly couldn't tell her that she was Ladybug, and he was Chat Noir, and how she worried that he was disappointed that the girl he fell so hard for was just her. No, she definitely couldn't do that, and that was a huge part of the problem. But she could tell her about what she saw at the theater, that's part of it..._

 _She heard Alya groan. "Alright, what happened?"_

 _"I was out with Hailey a couple of weeks ago, when we saw Adrien at the theater..."_

 _"Yeah, go on," she encouraged._

 _"He was with someone...a woman..."_

 _"Mhm..."_

 _"They were talking by the wall, looking_ really _cozy."_

 _"That doesn't necessarily mean anything though, right?" Alya offered. "It's easy to assume something like that from a distance."_

 _"She was playing around with his collar, touching his arm, and he was grinning down at her..."_ With the same look Chat Noir used to give Ladybug _, she thought to herself. "And did I mention that the woman was Aimée Simon?"  
_

 _"Oh girl," she breathed, "I'm so sorry, that doesn't sound very good at all. But it still might be nothing? Is that why you've been spending time with Gage?"_

 _"Kind of, I guess... It just sort of happened one day, and he's nice to me and spending time with him distracts me from thinking about him a little..."_

 _"Do you have feelings for him?"_

 _"Mmm...?" was all she replied with._

 _"I didn't think so," Alya sighed. "Have you talked to Adrien since?"_

 _"I did, but... it didn't go too well... OH! Oh no, I'm going to be late for work Alya," she cried when she got a glimpse of the time. "Right after Gage is picking me up for the fashion show. Can I call you back then?"_

 _"You better! Now hurry off to work before your boss fires you. Really, your skills truly are impeccable, but your tardiness makes you so unreliable!"_

 _Marinette brushed off her friends comment, and thanked her before she hung up and ran for the shop that she had less than five minutes to reach before she had to deal with the wrath that is Sophie._


	6. Chapter 6

**_(Still) Two weeks ago_**

 _Marinette had finished work a little later than usual, and Gage was set to pick her up from her house in half an hour. Rushing home to get changed and look at least presentable for such an occasion as a fashion show, Marinette made a mental note that she had to call her best friend as soon as it was over._

 _When he had arrived, exactly at 6, Marinette answered the door in a gown she had designed herself. Nothing too fancy as she wasn't the focal point of the show, but enough that she hoped she would look like she belonged._

 _"Wow Marinette, you look stunning!" he complimented when he got a good look at her._

 _"Thank you, Gage," she smiled, a slight tinge of pink on her cheeks._

 _"Ready to go, My Lady?" he held out his hand for her, but the nickname caught her off guard and caused her heart to speed up. Although he didn't say it like Chat Noir always did, as he always called her "m'lady", it was enough to unnerve her._

 _"Uh, haha, yeah, okay..." her smile became forced as she took his hand, and they climbed into his limo._

 _Thankfully it was a short drive, since Marinette was practically screaming in her head about what he had called her, and scolding herself for thinking about_ him _._

 _They were quickly escorted into the building, where other models were either running around, getting their outfits adjusted to absolute perfection, or casually standing around chatting._  
 _Amongst some of the chatters stood Adrien with Aimée. Marinette immediately spotted them, and looked for an escape to get away before she was spotted, but it was too late._

 _"Gage, Marinette!" she heard Aimée call them over. She felt a little shocked that she had known her name._

 _Gage had his hand around her waist, and gently coaxed her to walk with him to greet Adrien and Aimée._  
 _Aimée looked very happy to see them both and greeted them with a warm grin, her arms open, however Adrien's jaw hardened, and he stuffed his hands in his pockets._

 _"Wow, you look gorgeous!" she gushed as soon as Marinette was but a foot in front of them. "Did you design that yourself?"_

 _Marinette shyly nodded in response._

 _"Doesn't she look beautiful, Adrien?" she asked him happily, but he refused to turn his head to even glance at her._

 _"Ah, well you really do look beautiful, Marinette," she shot Adrien a look, but of course he wasn't looking at her to even notice._

 _"Thank you, Aimée," she smiled, she too was trying to ignore the fact that Adrien was standing there._

 _"It's kind of weird that we've never met, but we already seem to know each other. I've heard so much about you lately from... well, I heard a lot about you," she side glanced again at Adrien. "And I think you'd fit right in with us."_

 _One of her idols actually thinks she'd fit in with her? Seriously?_

 _"T-Thank you! You have no idea how much that means to me, coming from you."_

 _Aimée blushed slightly in embarrassment. "I haven't been in the business that long, so I still have yet to get used to getting compliments like that."_

 _"You two were, strangely enough, the two people I wanted to introduce Marinette to, what luck that you're the first people we run into here," Gage said casually._

 _"Oh, um, I already know... Adrien..." said Marinette hesitantly, looking down at the ground._

 _Gage's frame straightened at the news. "You do? How did you two meet?"_

 _"We were classmates for several years," Adrien spoke for the first time, still refusing to look at anyone in the group. His tone was almost defensive._

 _"Ohh," he nodded politely. Then Adrien shot him a dark look, and his eyebrows flickered in surprise._

 _"Well, we should get going. We've got to get ready for that surprise for you, Marinette!" he rushed, hoping to get away from Adrien's glare as quickly as possible._

 _"Oh okay, it was really nice to meet you, Aimée!"_

 _"You too, Marinette, see you again soon, I'm sure!"_

 _Gage led Marinette away quickly to another part of the building. As soon as they were out of sight, Aimée turned on Adrien._

 _"Care to explain your rude behavior, Adrien? I don't get it. All you have ever done is talk about how amazing and talented Marinette is, and how she belonged here, and then you completely ignore her tonight?"_

 _"It's complicated," he mumbled, sipping a glass of water._

 _"Does she know why you're treating her like crap? Actually, I'll answer for her, she doesn't. She seemed really confused whenever she looked over in your direction."_

 _Adrien continued to sip his water. "It's not Marinette."_

 _"If it's not Marinette, then what is it? Gage?"_

 _His features twisted into a grimace._

 _"Oh Adrien, seriously? I know you've had issues with Gage, but isn't this a bit much?"_

 _He fell silent, avoiding eye contact._

 _"Oh... Ohhhh!" a look of triumph brightened her face as she began wagging her finger at him. "I get it. That poor girl, how long has she been waiting for you?"_

 _"W-what?" he stammered, "What do you mean?"_

 _"Let me see if I have this right. You have feelings for Marinette. She has feelings for you. It's been like this since you two were in school, but neither of you have ever said anything to each other. She saw you spending time with me at the theater, and she's been spending time with Gage, and neither of you are happy about seeing the other with someone else, so you're ignoring each other out of anger, yet you still won't talk about how you feel?"_

 _Adrien stared at her, his face completely flustered._  
 _"Ah, well I uh... I don't know how she feels, but you have half of it right... I guess..."_

 _"So you two are one of those couples. Okay. Well, I'll see you before I go on stage," she began walking off, giving him a slight backwards wave._

 _"Wait, where are you going?" he called after her, but she disappeared without even a glance back in his direction._

 _"I'm going to be a_ what _?!" Marinette's eyes bugged out of her head, and her mouth popped open in shock._  
 _"But I'm not... there's no way I could be a model, that's ridiculous," she laughed, waving her hand as if to brush off the absurdity of it all._

 _"I don't think so, and it'll help get your name out in the fashion industry. Models that are also exceptional designers are pretty in right now, as I'm sure you know."_

 _Marinette let out a breathy, nervous laugh._

 _There was a knock at the dressing room door, and Aimée stuck her head through the crack. "Mind if I come in?"_

 _"Of course not," Marinette tried to force a smile, but her nervousness made her look a bit mad._

 _"Ah... well I heard you're going to be in the show, so I thought I'd come and help! I was really nervous for my first, so I thought I'd come by and teach you a few tricks. You can go, Gage." she dismissed him away with her hands._

 _"Okay, I'll see you on the runway, Marinette," was his parting line before he exited her dressing room._

 _"Gage means well, but I don't think he's ever really nervous about anything. I'm sorry if this is frightening you, you don't have to go out there if you don't feel comfortable with it."_

 _"He has a point though, and he did go through the trouble to set up this opportunity for me. I don't want to pass it up. But yeah, I'm so nervous I don't even know what to do right now," she had been gnawing on her lower lip, and if she didn't stop, she'd make it bleed._

 _"And that's why I'm here! First step: Breathe. Take deep, calming breaths. In through your nose, out through your mouth. Slowly."_

 _Marinette took a few deep breaths._

 _"Good. Now massage the webbing of your hand between your thumb and index fingers. It helps if your stomach is bothering you. And third, once you're on that stage, you'll realize that all this pre-show jittery nervousness was for nothing, and you'll be just fine," she reassured her, putting her hands on Marinette's shoulders while she was glancing in her mirror._  
 _"Also, let me help you add a couple of things to your makeup. When you're out there, Gage will be walking with you. Take his hand elegantly, smile at the crowd, and I need you to remember this: turn to him and give him the most relaxed and natural smile that you can."_

 _"Really? Why?"_

 _"Just trust me," Aimée squeezed her shoulders before she started working on Marinette's makeup._

 _Marinette waited behind the curtains for the show to begin. Adrien and Aimée were stars in the beginning of the show, and they really shone. Marinette had never seen Adrien look so much like an angel in all the years she's known him as he did right then._

 _The spotlight made his blond hair appear as if it was glowing. Like a soft gold that shined like the sun. His lips curved down in a perfect frown. Not enough to make him look sad or angry, but enough to enhance his features. But probably the most beautiful feature of all was his eyes. They were bright and intense, like dark peridots. She knew if he looked at her like that, she'd become so dazed that she'd pass out on the spot._  
 _Once she realized that she had stopped paying attention to everything else but Adrien, she scolded herself quietly._

 _"Are you alright?" Gage had noticed her struggle._

 _She swallowed. "Uh huh, I'm fine."_

 _He gave her a look of concern, but thought better than to press her. They were supposed to go on stage in a few minutes._

 _She watched Adrien walk off the stage on the other side, followed closely by Aimée._  
 _When the next couple walked out onto the runway, Marinette didn't even pay attention, as her mind was too preoccupied with images of Adrien._

 _It wasn't until she was nudged that she realized they were up next._

 _Marinette scrambled to remember how she was supposed to walk, and just decided doing her best was all she could do: and it was more than enough._

 _She strutted down the catwalk with Gage in hand. Little did she realize that Adrien had stepped away from backstage to watch her._  
 _Marinette's shoulder-length hair was brushed to one side, slight waves rippled throughout. Her mouth was held in a tight but still beautiful smile, her lips a shade of red, matching the A Line skirt she wore that flowed and moved around flawlessly with every movement. She wore a black jacket, and a white shirt underneath._  
 _Adrien stared at her, looking so at ease up there on stage. So confident and elegant and..._

 _"You're drooling," came a voice at his side, causing him to jump. Aimée waved when he glanced down and saw her beside him._

 _"Oh. Don't sneak up on me like that," he warned, his hand over his heart as if it would slow his heartrate._

 _"I've been here the entire time," she smiled, watching Gage and Marinette almost like a proud mother watching her children._

 _After being snapped out of his thoughts by Aimée, he began to focus more on what was going on onstage as opposed to what this particular female model looked like._  
 _Marinette had taken Gage's hand again, and just like she was instructed to do by Aimée, she suddenly beamed at him, looking into his hazel eyes, a look Adrien used to see on her face whenever he would be in her company._

 _He couldn't stand to stay there and watch anymore, so he jetted out the emergency exit door in the back, with Aimée in tow._

 _"What's wrong?" she cried after him urgently as the door shut behind them._

 _Adrien stopped suddenly, his hands balled up into fists, but he kept his back turned towards. "I just can't stand to watch her up there, with him, smiling at him like..."_

 _"Like what?" she demanded._

 _"Like she used to when she looked at me."_

 _There was silence between the two for a moment, they could hear the clapping back in the room. Marinette and Gage must have finished._

 _"If it bothers you so much, you have to tell her, Adrien! How is she supposed to know how you feel otherwise?"_

 _Like usual, he was silent, unmoving. Aimée grabbed his arm, pulling him around to face her._

 _"Answer me this, Adrien. Can you ever see yourself with anyone else but her?"_

 _"No," he replied immediately._

 _"Let's say an akuma attack or some other villainous attack happened, and she died as a result, and not even Ladybug could save her. Could you live without her?"_

 _Adrien pictured in his mind, Ladybug fighting a villain that was just too much for them both, and that there was nothing that even Chat Noir could do to keep her with him. Watching the life drain away from her before his very eyes in his arms..._  
 _He felt like he was on the verge of tears just thinking about it, his heart threatening to shatter into a million pieces. He couldn't bear to speak, so he shook his head instead, although the look on his face said it all._

 _"Then you have to talk to her, and soon. Because telling her everything of what you're feeling, of what you're worried about, will not result in your biggest fears. But if you keep this up, if you keep getting angry at her every time you see her with Gage, if you keep all your thoughts and feelings to yourself, at least one of your biggest fears will undoubtedly come true."_

 _She walked back without another word, leaving Adrien alone with his thoughts._

 _"Why didn't you tell me you were going to be apart of the show?!" Alya exclaimed as soon as she answered the phone._

 _"You saw?"_

 _"Heck yeah I saw! It was broadcasted live on the internet. You were amazing, girl! A total natural. You definitely killed it!"_

 _Marinette laughed. "Good, because honestly, I was terrified I would fall on my face or something. But it was definitely a lot of fun! It was interesting to see what it was like for the model instead of just being the designer for a change."_

 _"You could be the next Aimée Simon. The Marinette Dupain-Cheng," she could hear the wide grin that was on Alya's face over the phone. "Speaking of her, Adrien looked amazing when they were on! Did you see him?"_

 _"I.. I did," her bubbly tone suddenly fading away. "It was hard enough seeing him on stage, I - I don't think I'm up for talking about Adrien anymore tonight."_

 _"I understand. If you wake up from an Adrien dream or something in the middle of the night, I'm only a text away!"_

 _Marinette sniffed, a sad smile playing on her lips. She wished her best friend could be with her instead of part way around the world._

 _"Thanks Alya. I should probably get going, it's been a long night."_

 _"Get some rest, girl."_

 _"Will do. Good night," she said before hanging up the phone._  
 _Marinette got ready for bed, but before that she gave one last look in the mirror, and was in awe that for once, she truly thought she could be good enough to be a model when she saw her reflection staring back at her._

 _She climbed into bed about an hour later, and just lied there, trying to fight away the pictures of Adrien from that night. Every time she'd let one slip past the barrier she had thrown up to block it, another piece of her heart would break away, to then be broken into thousands more. If her heart was a work of art, it would probably look much like a intricate stained-glass window._

 _Beautiful, but broken._

* * *

 **AN:** _  
_

 **I had really no idea where I was going to go with this chapter, and wrote it while feeling quite down, tired, and sick, but I'm proud of it all the same.**

 **I won't be posting a new chapter of this fiction until August 29th. I'm planning on spending my free time until then working on a new chapter of Broken, as well as my other work From Where You Are, Betrayal, and What Could be to post on that day. So hopefully this chapter is long enough to keep you until then. If you're a fan of my other work as well, well look forward to Tuesday! c:**

 **~ToujoursMiraculous**


	7. Chapter 7

**_The present_**

Adrien headed home after the Kwami's attempt to get them talking. His stubbornness was draining away, and he was ready to try to talk to her, but she certainly wasn't ready to talk to him.

Instead of doing the healthy thing, and find something productive to do to pass the time, he went onto his computer and put up the tab with the fashion show from a couple of weeks ago instead, only to fast-forward to the part where Marinette began walking onto the stage.

She was absolutely stunning, something he already knew, but he just couldn't bring himself to take his eyes off of her here. It was easier for him to block out Gage while watching the footage.

"You're so pathetic," Plagg said in Adrien's ear. "We gave you a chance to talk, and you didn't take it. You'd just rather sit here and watch her on a screen. How many times have you watched this now?"

Adrien swatted at Plagg. "She was the one that didn't want to talk, not me."

"And I wonder why," he replied sarcastically. "Look, she saw you with that woman you're always with, just after you found out she was Ladybug, and had been ignoring her. I'm not human, but when I try to put myself in the shoes of one of you, I can at least see how it would make a person feel."

"What are you trying to say?""

Plagg let out a dramatic and annoyed sigh, before going on top of Adrien's hair, ruffling it all up.  
"Do you even have a brain in this thing? Kid," he spoke slowly and deliberately, "she feels like she didn't live up to your expectations. She thinks that you'd rather be with that woman than her, because she's not good enough for you now that you know who she really is."

"But why?" he blinked in confusion. Plagg smacked him on the top of the head, and the pain felt comparable to that of a mosquito bite. Adrien glared angrily, reaching up to take the Kwami off of him by the scruff of the neck.

"Ladybug is held to such a high standard by everyone, is she not?"

Adrien thought about it for a moment, then nodded slowly.

"Then she's had you for a partner, that's been bugging her - pun certainly not intended - about who she really is. She's probably lived with the fear of what everyone would think of her, especially you, if they found out who she is behind that mask after all these years. Haven't you noticed that she's never exactly been the most secure person?"

He began to retort, but Plagg wasn't finished.

"And then here you are, jealous because a guy that you hate is spending time with her, when you never knew the story of why she has been spending time with him in the first place. Then you get mad at her for it, when she's already worried that you don't care for her anymore. Can you not imagine that she could be jealous of that Aimée woman, like you are of Gage? Can you not understand how she might've come to these conclusions? You keep messing things up. Today all you had to do was keep insisting you two speak, not give up and let her leave! Don't continue making the same mistake, Adrien," lectured Plagg. And with a huff, he announced he was going to bed, and was not to be disturbed about this stupid human problem anymore, before floating down the hall to another part of the house .

Adrien just sat there, taking in everything Plagg had told him. The fact that Plagg was actually that perceptive and talkative came as a surprise to him, especially since they had been together for years. If he was getting _that_ upset and has gotten _this_ involved, who was he to say that Plagg was wrong.

And if everything he said was the truth...

...Wow, he was an idiot. A complete and utter idiot, who should've just answered the stupid text instead of thinking it'd be okay to hold off.

After awhile, Adrien came to the decision that he'd find Marinette tomorrow, and do as Plagg said. They were going to talk about this, as much as the thought terrified him. And with this, he crawled into bed, lying there awake until sleep pulled him under.

In what seemed to be only seconds after falling asleep, Adrien was startled awake by Plagg, who was screaming and smacking him in the face.

"Adrien! Kid! Wake up!"

Adrien groaned something that sounded like "go away", but Plagg kept up.

"There's an akuma attack!"

That got Adrien's attention.

"What's going on?" he sat up urgently, yet still a bit groggy, throwing the covers off of him.

"See for yourself," he pointed at the small device Adrien bought him so that he'd be able to keep up with the news and entertain himself when they were at home.

A villain was shown cackling and turning objects into other objects that they were not. Some of them were pretty serious. Like maces and hatchets and bombs

Adrien called for Plagg to transform him, and within moments he was already on the streets of Paris, going at full speed towards the noise he could hear in the distance.

Ladybug appeared to have arrived just before he did. She was still scoping out what was going on, and what to do.

"Tell me what you need me to do," he said firmly after a moment, looking around for anything that might come flying at her to harm her.

She nodded, continuing to examine her surroundings.

"I need you to use Cataclysm on that street light," she pointed at the specific one she needed. He gave a clear nod, and charged for the light.

"Not tonight, cat!" the villain whose name neither of them knew, nor would ever care to know, screeched. Without missing a beat, she spotted a pot of flowers in one of the windows, and turned them into sharp arrows, and flung them towards Chat Noir.

Ladybug watched in horror, as if what was going on in front of her was happening in slow motion. He had dodged every arrow that she threw his way.  
Not satisfied, the villain tried again with another pot of flowers, all of which too missed Chat. All except for one.

Upon impact, he let out a cry of pain, and fell a few feet from his staff that he used to plunge him forward, onto the hard concrete ground.

Ladybug froze on the spot, before letting out a piercing scream.  
He was dizzy and disoriented, unable to keep his head up to see what was going on. But he heard fighting, and despite his attempts to sit up and try to join her, he just couldn't fight through the pain.

"Chat? Stay with me, Chat!" she kept screaming, each time she became more and more desperate. He tried to keep his breathing as steady as he could, trying to stay conscious.

But after he managed to get one last look at Ladybug, he plunged into darkness.


	8. Chapter 8

Adrien woke in a room he immediately knew not to be his, but was nevertheless vaguely familiar. He began to wonder why he was there in the first place, before it dawned on him.  
He heard Ladybug screaming his name in a panic. He remembered the feeling of impact as the arrow penetrated his suit and dug into his chest, the echo of pain that still lingered, but no longer was with him, most likely thanks to the Miraculous Ladybug.

As what happened sunk in, Adrien jolted up from the bed with a hand over his chest, and saw Marinette curled up in a chair near his bedside.  
"Marinette," he breathed in relief. Then he noticed something sparkling on her face. "A-Are you crying?"

Marinette quickly brushed the heel of her palm against her cheek, sniffling. "No."  
She however, wouldn't look directly at him.

A small smile played on Adrien's lips as he scooted himself closer to the foot of the bed so he could get a better look at her face.

"M'lady, you know you can't fool me."

She turned to him with a gasp, as her nickname caught her off guard, and saw his wide, cheeky grin and piercing but kind eyes.  
Without warning, Marinette launched herself out of her chair at Adrien, knocking him backwards. He expected some kind of reaction, but it certainly was not _this_.

"I'm okay, really. Miraculous Ladybug healed me, so you don't have to worry," he soothingly rubbed her back as she curled up on his chest with her face buried.

"I could've lost you," she said hoarsely. "You were bleeding, and unconscious, and for awhile there, I thought that my Miraculous Ladybug couldn't heal injuries caused by attacks and I was just so _terrified_..."

He could feel Marinette begin to shake.

"And I had been contemplating back and forth about whether or not I should just come and talk to you, even though I was absolutely petrified to my core that you didn't want me, that you didn't want _me_ Marinette, that I disappointed you and ruined your image of Ladybug, and that that's why you never replied to me that day or came to see me and instead went out with some other woman who is probably a million times better than me, and you have been so mad at me since that day, I've just missed you so much, and how we used to be when we were fighting akumas and patrolling the city, and I worried that we couldn't even have that back again and I was just so upset and hurt about it all that I turned everything I was feeling into anger and took it out on you and I'm so so sorry, Adrien, and now after today, after I saw you like that I feel so unbelievably sick with myself that I could've lost you after I treated you like that and...and..."

"Breathe, Marinette," Adrien murmured when she had begun making choking noises. "It's really not your fault Marinette, it's mine. I shouldn't have ignored your text that day. And I certainly shouldn't have taken my anger out on you about Gage, that was uncalled for. This never would've happened if it wasn't for my poor choices. You have no idea how much I wish I hadn't made those decisions."

"Would you tell me why you made those decisions?"

Adrien laughed once. "Because I'm an idiot?"

Marinette lifted her head to give him her pathetic attempt of a glare.

"Sorry. I ignored you... because at the time, I didn't even know what to think. I needed time to sort my thoughts out. Suddenly, one of my best friends that I've always admired and cared about so much turned out to be the girl I loved the first day I met her. The first thing that popped into my head was, ' _how could I possibly be so lucky?_ ' because I've never been a particularly lucky person. You don't know this, but..."

Adrien went quiet.

"But what?" she prodded.

"Remember the day after our reveal, how we were supposed to meet up at Café Lomi?"

Marinette nodded.

"I uh," Adrien's face started turning bright red. "I asked you there, because I was going to... to ask you if you would..."

She sat up, tilting her head to the side.

He swallowed. "I was going to ask you if you would be my girlfriend."

Marinette blinked. "You were...what?"

"I have liked you for so many years, Princess," Adrien continued. "I just never said anything about it to you. At first, I thought it was because you were a great friend of mine, and you meant a lot to me. But I started becoming more and more nervous around you, and I wanted to spend as much time with you as I possibly could whenever I could, and felt particularly lonely when I couldn't be with you. One day I woke up and I realized that you've always been more than just a friend to me. So, since we were both back in Paris permanently, I knew that I had to act fast before someone else stepped in."

Her jaw slacked as she stared at him.

"I don't know if you're aware of this, but every guy you get close to seems to like you, and frankly I've been worried that you'd meet someone while you were in school or traveling that would take you away from me."

Marinette couldn't believe what she was hearing, but Adrien wouldn't lie. "So... is that why me spending time with Gage made you so angry?"

Adrien sighed and scratched the back of his head. "That's mostly it."

Her expression softened, giving him a small smile. "What else is it about Gage?"

"Idon'tknowifIwanttosay-" he rushed out in a mumble.

"What was that?" she grinned, elbowing him in the ribs. "You can tell me."

He groaned, took in a deep breath, and let it all out in a exasperated sigh.

"Alright. I found out he's a massive Ladybug fan, has had a huge crush on her since we were teens, and I heard him say some things that really pissed me off that I will not repeat no matter how much you try to get it out of me. There are some things that are just better left unsaid, m'lady."

"The reason you hate Gage so much is because of me?" she asked, stifling a laugh.

Adrien stood up. "Well, not _because_ of you per se, you didn't make him say what he did. But it does relate to you, yes."

"I'm sorry, if I would've known I would have stayed away from him. Don't worry, I won't be having coffee with him anymore."

Adrien seemed to relax a little then. He felt very relieved to get everything off his chest. But there was one thing that was still bothering him.

"About what I said earlier... would you be my girlfriend?"

Her face turned a nice shade of pink, and her smile grew even wider than it was already.

"Maybe," she said simply, with a slight shrug of her shoulders. But the look on her partner's face confirmed that she'd need to explain her response.

"Don't worry Kitty, it's nothing to do with your or anyone else. I just think after the past month, we should spend more time together like we used to first before we move on from there."

The sadness and pain started to leave Adrien's features. "Yeah, I guess you're right about that. You have a point."

"Good. How about I take you home now, it's getting kind of late. You're sure you're feeling alright after the attack today?"

"Nothing this cat can't handle, Bugaboo!" he assured her confidently, and even threw in a wink. "A little cat nap, and I should be meowtastic."

Marinette chuckled. "Alright, clearly you're fine."  
After a moment, she muttered, "I missed that," which was enough to light up his face on its own, but the quick kiss on the cheek she gave him on her way out the door was enough to keep him happy for days.

"Ha! I knew you loved my puns!"


	9. Chapter 9

Several days had gone by since Chat's encounter with the arrow. And each day since, Adrien and Marinette met up with each other whenever both their schedules would allow.

Today, Adrien had called Marinette, asking if they could postpone their time together by an hour, and also mentioned that he was bringing someone else along with him, but he wouldn't say who as it was a surprise.

"A surprise? I wonder who he could be talking about. What do you think, Tikki?"

Tikki blinked and then shrugged.

There was a sudden and quick rap on Marinette's door. She stood up from the couch and stretched before making her way to the door.

"Alya!" she exclaimed after she swung it open, her tired face suddenly full of energy and excitement. "What are you doing here?! I thought you wouldn't be back for another month!"

Her best friend chuckled before stepping forward to give her a hug. "I had an unexpected chunk of free time on my hands, and what better way to spend it than back in Paris with my best friend in the entire world?"

"I've missed you," laughed Marinette as she hugged her friend tighter. "But uh, I'm actually going to be heading out pretty soon..."

Alya let go of her, and examined her face with raised brow.

"Seeing Adrien?"

Marinette's mouth popped open to speak, but she quickly closed it.

"...Yes," she answered after a few moments.

"Ha, I knew it! I know you better than you know yourself, girl."

A brief and nervous chuckle escaped before Marinette could stop herself. Luckily, Alya hadn't noticed.

"Actually, Adrien said he's bringing someone... A surprise. How about you come with me and be my surprise guest?"

"I'm up for it. Where are we going?"

"We're meeting in the park a couple of blocks over. I'm not sure what he has planned for the day," she pulled on her coat and tied her scarf around her neck. The air had become crisp the past couple of days, which meant snow was soon to follow.

"Mysterious," Alya commented, linking her arm with Marinette's as they walked out the door.

xxx

Adrien paced back and forth in front of a park bench. Every minute or so, he'd rub his hands together to keep them warm.

"Dude, would you please calm down and take a seat?" Nino begged. "You're making me nervous."

"Sorry," he apologized, running his hand through his hair.

"It's just Marinette, I don't know why you're so worked up over seeing her."

Adrien plunked down on the bench next to Nino. He rested his clenched-up hands on his thighs, and began bouncing his right leg up and down.

Nino side-eyed him, and then sighed.

"You still haven't asked her out, have you?"

"Uhhh..." was all he got out before Marinette approached them.

"Nino!" Marinette cried with delight, not hesitating to give him a hug. "It's so good to see you, how have you been?"

He laughed at her excitement, though he was very happy to see her as well.  
"I've been doing really good, and the tour has been excellent. I was a bit homesick though, and thought I'd take a break and come back for a visit."

"Ahem," came a voice behind Marinette. Nino glanced over her shoulder and saw his red-headed girlfriend standing there with a gentle smile on her face. "Hey stranger."

"Alya!" Nino held out his arms for her, and she rushed up into his arms.  
He wrapped his arms around her, his hand brushing through her hair. "I wasn't expecting to see you here."

"Nor I you, last-minute trip?" her voice hushed so their friends wouldn't overhear.

He barely shook his head. They both glanced back at their friends, who were watching them with happy, yet uncomfortable expressions.

"Ah, would you guys like a minute?" Marinette asked awkwardly, tugging at Adrien's coat sleeve. He stood up, taking the hint.

Nino and Alya gave a slight nod and smile.

Once out of sight, Alya turned back to Nino.

"I take it your trip wasn't exactly a spur-of-the-moment decision either?"

Nino glanced around, making sure there wasn't anyone nearby to overhear. He let out a sigh.

"No, it wasn't. I just said that so Adrien wouldn't find it strange that I came back without giving him a heads up. Usually he knows at least a week before I come visit."

"It's weird, you know? Keeping this secret from them. I don't like keeping secrets from her."

"I get it, I don't like it either. But it's for the best. They can't know, it's too dangerous."

Alya bit her lip, her eyes growing sad.

"What it is?" he stroked her cheek gently.

"Do you think we can do it? Defeat Whirlwind? He's been causing so much trouble, and Ladybug and Chat Noir have been left to fight him alone, as well as the akuma attacks. I feel so bad about leaving them-"

"No, no, don't do that," Nino pulled her in for a hug, and Alya sniffled. "They insisted that we all go and do what we have to do for ourselves. Our civilian selves. When Ladybug and Chat Noir insist, you just have to go with it. Like they promised, they called us and let us know when they couldn't handle it alone anymore. Don't feel guilty," he kissed the top of her head.

"I know, it's just," Alya pushed herself away from Nino enough to see his face. "Those two have done so much for me, for all of us, and I just can't help feeling guilty about not being here for them, no matter the circumstances. They're always doing so much others, but who does anything for them?"

Nino smiled and took her hands in his. "After our visit with Marinette and Adrien, I think Rena Rouge and Carapace should pay them a visit, what do you think?" He winked at her.

"Please," she breathed before dragging him away to find their friends.


	10. Chapter 10

"Want to go on patrol, just like old times?" Adrien whispered from across the small round table, a hot mug of cocoa in his hands. He wiggled his eyebrows playfully.

The two had stopped in on a little cafe after Nino and Alya left to warm up.

Marinette took a sip from her mug, taking an exceptionally long time to do so. "Alright, it's probably a good idea to check on the city, make sure nobody needs our help."

His face lit up, and he chugged what was left in his cup. "Ready to go!"

She smiled, shaking her head at his childishness.

A cold breeze hit them as they left the cozy cafe. Marinette wrapped her scarf tighter around her neck.

Adrien walked ahead a few paces, looking for a place for them to transform.

"Ah, over here!" he called to her, motioning for her to join him.

Marinette and Adrien smiled at each other as they called their Kwami's out.

"Plagg."

"Tikki."

"Claws out!"

"Spots on!"

Being in each other's presence wasn't the only unusual part about their transformations. It felt unfamiliar, different. When it was over, they realized right away why it felt so strange.

Chat Noir and Ladybug no longer wore their iconic looks.

Ladybug's new design was that of a slightly darker red suit than her latter one, with black, sleek over-the-knee boots, a red stripe going up the outer side of them. The black that was around her neck had extended down her shoulders, under her arms and down her sides, creating an hour-glass look. Her fingertips were now purely black, and her mask was framed in black, with a less rounded shape to the edges. Ladybug's hair was longer now, however she kept her classic pigtails, they were located higher up on her head, her ribbons had grown with the length of her hair.

Chat Noir now sported a very neat utility belt with the neon green paw print displayed in the center. Around his chest, he had plates of armor built in, making him appear buffer than before. His gloves, the same color as his former suit, now went up to his elbow, his claws a silvery-gray. The body of his suit was now a charcoal gray, almost black, silvery-gray bands wrapped around each bicep. Chat's wore bulky boots that stopped mid-thigh, with the same cat paw design at the toes. His mask was nearly identical to his old one, but one green stripe bordered the top and bottom. Chat's hair was buzzed along the sides, however the top had several inches in length and waved out in different directions, looking picture perfect with the addition of his classic black cat ears on top.

"Nice suit," Ladybug commented, ringing the bell that was still around his neck. "Glad to see you didn't lose this."

"I wouldn't be Chat Noir without it," he said proudly, then added, "You look amazing, as usual."

"Not that I'm complaining, but what do you think caused the new look?"

"Beats me," he shrugged. "I'm sure our Kwami's will tell us later. I personally love your new look, and from what I can see, my suit is everything I would've asked it to be if I knew about a wardrobe change. I just wonder if Paris will take to our new look."

"Guess we'll have to find out. Come on, Chaton," Ladybug taunted playfully, throwing her yo-yo. Chat Noir was not far behind her when she suddenly stopped on a roof. He hoisted himself up to see what was going on.

"LB? CN?" A Fox superheroine asked as soon as Chat landed beside Ladybug. "Is that really you?" She was standing with the wielder of the Turtle Miraculous. They both marveled at them.

"Yeah, it's us," Ladybug laughed. "It's so good to see you, both of you," she gave them a quick hug.

"You two look amazing! Why the new look?" Rena Rouge asked, "Not that anything was wrong with your old suits but this is definitely a major upgrade. My babies look all grown up now," she sniffled dramatically, wiping away a fake tear.

Chat rolled his eyes and initiated the special handshake he shared with Rena Rouge. "We honestly don't know, it literally just happened a couple of minutes ago. I take it you're back because we called?"

"Of course," Carapace answered, wrapping his arm around Ladybug's neck. "We couldn't leave the two of you alone when you need help."

"Are any of the others back?"

"No, not as far as we know anyway. Thankfully, we haven't had any run-ins with Whirlwind or major akuma attacks the past week, but Whirlwind is becoming too big of a problem for us to handle on our own. There was a - an incident the last time he came," Ladybug's eyes darted to Chat Noir.

Carapace looked startled. "What happened, are you okay?"

"We're fine," Ladybug assured him. "It worked out in the end. However, we can't have something like that happen again, or worse. We're sorry we had to call you guys away, but -"

"No Ladybug, don't. We're superheroes, it's our job to protect the city, and each other. I know you two urged us to go live our lives, but I've been feeling awfully guilty about leaving you to deal with everything... and if I'm being honest, I missed this dork," she pointed her thumb towards Chat.

He bowed, a smirk on his face. "Missed you too, Rena."

"We told you to go," Ladybug insisted. "There's nothing to feel guilty about."

"That's what I keep telling her," Carapace shot Rena Rouge a look. "Don't get me wrong, I take my duty as a superhero of Paris very seriously, but we can't halt our personal lives for it. Especially when these opportunities are only temporary. We'll always come back, Paris is our home," he sounded more like he was trying to reassure Rena Rouge than anything.

"Okay, okay," Rena Rouge crossed her arms. "I get it. You guys are right. Balancing our regular lives with our superhero ones isn't easy, I just didn't want to let anybody down."

Her trio of superhero friends pulled her in for a group hug, which took the weight she had been feeling off of her shoulders.

"Thank you."

"That's what we're here for," Chat grinned.

"Anyway, we decided to see if you were around to let you know we're here if you need us. Unfortunately we have to go for now, but we'll meet up with you tomorrow?" asked Carapace, holding his hand out for Chat's.

"Count on it," Chat reached out and shook his hand once.

Carapace took Ladybug's hand and squeezed it once before he and Rena Rouge ran off.

"They have no idea we know, do they?" Ladybug laughed lightly.

Chat laughed with her. "Not a clue."


	11. Chapter 11

"What's the plan for today, m'lady?" Adrien leaned into Marinette, his face but an inch from hers. They were in the living room of Marinette's apartment. She had been enveloped in sketching a new design for a personal project when he walked in with no warning. She was lucky he hadn't come in a minute earlier, otherwise a hot cup of coffee would have flown up onto her face instead of her notebook. Adrien scooped the small book up off of the floor as soon as it fell, his face never moving away from hers.

Instinctively, she pushed him away, snatching her notebook from his grasp. "Do you enjoy scaring me to death? That's the third time this week you've nearly given me a heart attack."

"Actually, I do," he gave her a crooked, sly grin and plopped down beside her. "Your reactions are so adorable, I cat resist.."

"Ugh," Marinette groaned, smacking his arm with her book. "I'm a jumpy person, Adrien. You can't just come up behind me and start talking. One of these days, I may just flip you through a wall or something as a knee-jerk reaction."

"Mmm," he pondered her words a moment. "Nah, I think I'll take my chances."

Marinette shook her head. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

"Sure, but really, what are we doing today?"

She glanced at her watch. "Since Alya's back in town for awhile, I'm afraid most of my free time is going to be spent with her. I'm meeting her in a few minutes. I wouldn't be surprised if Nino's tagging along," she nudged him in the ribs with her elbow.

Adrien pouted. "My best friends are all going to hang out without me?" his tone was thick with fake sadness.

"You can come along, too!" she offered quickly, not picking up on his teasing. "I'm not a hundred percent sure Nino will be there, but they're both in the same place for the first time in months so they'll probably be joined at the hip her entire visit."

Adrien laughed. "I wouldn't be surprised. Alright, I'll come along. What are we doing?"

"Ice skating," she answered as she got up and stretched.

"..Ice skating…" he said, thoughtful a moment. "You know, after we fought Frozer, I always wanted to go ice skating with Ladybug again."

Marinette shot him a smile. "You'll have to settle for the next best thing. Unfortunately, that'll be me falling on the ice."  
"I'm sure you won't. You skated just fine last time," Adrien reminded her.

"Ha, that's because I was Ladybug," she bopped him on the nose. "Marinette's a klutz that has difficulty walking on a flat surface."

"Marinette is capable of doing anything Ladybug can do… except jump dozens of feet in the air and swing over Paris with a yo-yo," he added on with a smirk and a shrug.

The corner of her mouth twitched, but she didn't look convinced. "We'll see."

Adrien trailed behind her as she got up and threw on her coat and wrapped a scarf around her neck. He smiled and helped her adjust hers before he put on his own.

"Remind me to make you a new one of these," she brushed her hand over the fabric before her eyes met his.

Adrien frowned. "Why? I love this scarf."

Marinette's blush tinted her cheeks, her eyes lighting up. "Because you've worn it so much, it's extremely faded now. I'm not saying you have to throw this one out, just let me make you a new one." She turned around before he could say another word and headed out the door. Adrien stood in the entryway of her apartment, lost in his thoughts, before coming to his senses and ran after her.

Marinette chuckled when he was at her side again, but didn't say a word on their way to the ice rink nearby.

"Hey!" they heard a familiar voice call them upon their arrival. They spotted Alya waving at them with Nino by her side.

"Told you," Marinette remarked with a crooked smile. The two approached their friends, greeting them as if it were the first time seeing each other in months.

"Adrien, watch out for her on the ice today, will you?" Alya asked him with slight concern, taking Nino's hand.

"Of course," he nodded, then glanced down and gave a sly grin as he took Marinette's hand. He pulled her along to a wooden bench, where he asked her to wait for him as he grabbed a pair of skates for the two of them. While she waited, Marinette watched Alya and Nino glide on the ice. She was both surprised and not by the grace and elegance they showed. They were in such sync that it made her feel a bit envious.

She'd be lucky if she could remain upright on the ice, much less look like that. Then there was not looking like a complete idiot in front of Adrien….

Marinette sighed, her breath billowed, very apparent in the crisp, early winter air.

"Something wrong, m'lady?" she heard Adrien ask from behind her. She turned her head slightly and shook her head. "Just what I told you earlier."

"You'll be just fine," he assured her. "I'll be there, and I won't let you fall. Here you go," he handed her a pair of skates in her size.

After their skates were laced up, Adrien stepped onto the ice first, making sure his feet were comfortable on the slippery surface, before he held out his hand for Marinette to join him.

She took his hand and slowly followed. For a few seconds, she was comfortable. Then her left foot lost its grip and she began to panic, flailing her arms around.

"I've got you, I've got you!" he repeated urgently, holding his arm out to catch her before she could fall. "Remember what I said earlier? You are her. You can do this."

Marinette took a deep breath and tried again. A couple of laps around the rink, and she was feeling fairly confident that she wouldn't fall anymore.

"Want me to let go now?" he asked.

Marinette shook her head vigorously. "No!" she shouted, and then her face grew even more rosy. Her eyes darted away with embarrassment.

He chuckled. "Okay, I won't let go. Promise."

Alya and Nino sat on a bench across from the couple on the ice, watching them intently.

"I wish they'd get together already," Alya voiced her thoughts aloud. "Between them and Ladybug and Chat Noir, I don't know how I can handle the stress."

Nino chuckled. "I think they just need more time. CN and LB included. Their new simultaneous costume change means something happened between them, right?"

"Not necessarily," Wayzz poked his head out of Nino's coat. "There can be a multitude of reasons why heroes will get a change of outfit. But you do have a point, since it was simultaneous. And they are destined to be together."

"They are?! Alya grinned as she grasped her boyfriends arm. "I knew they were perfect together!"

"Sometimes I wonder how you're able to keep it together when you're saving Paris with them," Nino teased, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

"I've had to help them out a lot, even before I got my Miraculous. Although it still feels totally unreal, they feel like close friends of mine. So I've gotten past fangirling. Except when it comes to Ladynoir."

Nino looked down at Wayzz. "They're really destined? How do you know?"

Trixx popped his head out of Alya's scarf. "Yin and Yang. One can't exist without the other. Master tested them before they were given their Miraculous, and…"

Wayzz shot Trixx an intense look.

"And?" Alya asked. "Go on."

"Uhh," the Fox Kwami swallowed. "And their relationship outside of the costume has always been great without them even knowing who they really are!" he rushed out before ducking back into the coral fabric wrapped around Alya's neck.

Wayzz sighed. Nino and Alya looked at one another, their mouths popped open. "They know each other?"

"Do you think they know their secret identities?" he wondered.

Then they heard Marinette laughing, breaking them out of their serious conversation. They saw Adrien sliding on the ice on his stomach.

"I told you not to show off!" she called after him. Adrien re-positioned himself so he was sitting on the ice instead of laying on it, and scratched his head before be burst into laughter himself.

Alya's phone began to beep, and she dug into her jacket pocket to pull it out.

Nadja Chamack was reporting about an akuma that was attacking citizens nearby. Alya glanced up at Nino anxiously.

"Uhh, hey guys?" Alya called to her friends who were still laughing at Adrien's blunder. "An akuma's nearby, I think we should head home, just in case."

Adrien quickly got to his feet, gliding over to Marinette and pulling her towards their friends.  
"Ahh, good idea. Be careful, okay?"

"You too," Nino clapped his best bud on the shoulder and quickly evacuated the rink with his girlfriend's hand in his. They found a secluded spot to transform together.

"Hawk Moth picks the worst times to strike," Rena Rouge grumbled. "They were having such a good time together."

"On the bright side though, we'll get to spend some time with Ladybug and Chat Noir!"

* * *

 **I've had part of this written up for awhile. Decided it'd be best to put up before Frozer airs, so here you go!**


	12. Chapter 12

A boy around 15 years old stood anxiously near the massive fire that towered in the middle of the field. It was cold, the ground frozen beneath his feet, but the flames and the thought of her kept him warm.

He began to pace around nervously, his classmates chattering happily in small groups around the bonfire. Several were divided into happy pairs, lost in their own little worlds.

She was coming, wasn't she?

After several minutes, the boy decided to take a look around to see if she had simply gotten caught up with some friends. He grabbed a cup of hot cocoa for her, just in case, and made his way around the fire. When he reached the other side of the bonfire, he spotted her. There was no denying it was her standing there with her back to him. Her auburn hair shone in the firelight, the waves in her hair dancing as she moved her head.

His breath caught in his throat, then he let out a satisfied sigh, a grin spreading across his face. He took a few quick steps towards her, the hot cup of cocoa firmly in his grasp, when he watched his classmate Vincent wrap his arm around her shoulders.

"Are you cold?" he heard Vincent ask.

"A little," she shivered with a shy smile as she rubbed her arms to warm them.

Suddenly he couldn't feel anything, as if the crisp winter air engulfed him, causing him to go numb. The cup of cocoa crashed onto the grass, spilling out in front of him and all over his pants, but nobody around him noticed.

Mechanically, he backed away and started running in a direction, just any direction that would get him away from the bright flames, away from the sight that caused his heart to pulse erratically and his hands to shake uncontrollably.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but after what felt like an eternity of running, he collapsed onto a carpet of dirt at the foot of the trees. He only had a few moments to wallow in his misery when there suddenly came a voice from inside his head.

"Inferno, I am Hawk Moth," breathed the cold voice. "Your classmates see flames as a symbol of love and companionship, but you see it differently from them, don't you? Steal Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculouses, and you can show them just what flames mean to you."

Inferno chuckled darkly. "Of course, Hawk Moth."

Fire was set to the trees outside the city of Paris. It didn't behave like natural fire that only spread by wind or the close contact of vegetation. This fire spread as if each tree was a cannon and the flames a cannonball. Balls of fire shot towards buildings, and the flames licked up the trees at great speed. Firefighters were dispatched to contain it, but plain water was no match for this inferno.

Ladybug and Chat Noir gasped as the city quickly began to glow and flicker with a frightening orange. They spotted Inferno perched on top of a building, laughing away. His hair appeared as if made with fire itself, the tips an icy blue. His mask glowed, laced with fire too. His outfit was as dark as coal, that only lit up when he was about to blast another stream of flames onto the defenseless city.

"What should we do?" Chat asked with a mixture of awe and horror at the magnitude the flames had reached in such a short time.

Ladybug shook her head, her eyes never budging from the scene before her. "I don't know, uhh," she started to think. She began to look over the boy from head to toe, trying to figure out just where the akuma was hiding. She called on her Lucky Charm. It was a sheet of paper with information about a boy, the boy she figured was Inferno.

"To my classmates at tonight's bonfire! Those flames mean warmth, companionship, and love to you. But to me, they only bring pain and destruction! Now I'll give you a taste of what these flames mean to me!" Inferno screamed out to the city, to the cameras filming him nearby.

"What a hot-head," commented Chat Noir.

Ladybug shot him a look. "Really not an appropriate time for puns, Chat. The poor guy's clearly heartbroken..."

"Aww, but I was just getting warmed up! Okay, sorry. No more puns," he said seriously when he saw the glare his Lady was giving him. "Do you have an idea where his akuma is, because I've got nothing."

"I think he has something around his wrist, but I'm not sure. His power is coming from his hands, so that's the best I've got. It's just hard to tell with all this smoke," she coughed a bit,waving her hand in front of her. Chat Noir rubbed her back as he coughed too.

"Ladybug, Chat Noir!" they heard voices calling them from their left. They saw Carapace and Rena Rouge bounding towards them at top speed. The two heroes let out a breath of relief.

"I'm so glad you're here!" Ladybug called over. "I think the akuma is hidden in a bracelet he's wearing, but I can't tell with all this smoke. I don't know if I'll be able to get close enough to get it off him."

"Leave it to me," Carapace stepped up, getting his shield ready. "I can get you there. Rena, Chat, help the citizens in the meantime."

Rena nodded at once, but Chat glanced over at Ladybug, worry and uncertainty written all over his face. She gave him an assuring smile. "I'll be alright Chat, okay?" she took his hand for a moment. That was all he needed to hear. "Take care of her," he said, looking Carapace square in the eyes and clapping him on the shoulder. Then, he and Rena went off to help the citizens caught in Inferno's line of fire down on the streets.

After stealthily making their way across the street, Ladybug stood behind Carapace, his shield held in front of them. "At the count of three, we'll charge him, okay?"

"Okay."

"Stay behind me, LB, don't venture out unless you're absolutely prepared to throw your yo-yo. If it doesn't work out the first time, we'll circle back and try again."

She nodded.

"One…"

"Two…"

"THREE!" they said in unison. Ladybug ran closely behind Carapace, the noise of their footsteps on the roof caught Inferno's attention, and he began firing at them. Flames brushed closely by the two, on either side of them, but because of Carapace's shield, they were untouched.

She just needed a moment, one second's glance to aim her yo-yo at his arm.

Ladybug closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she popped out from the safety of Carapace's shield. She launched her arm towards him, her yo-yo hitting its mark as she yanked him to her left. He struggled to break free, shooting flames into the air.

"Grab his bracelet!" Ladybug ordered through gritted teeth as she continued tugging. Carapace jogged up to the fiery villain and took his bracelet. He tossed it over to Ladybug, who then snapped it in half to free the dark butterfly.

Once the akuma was cleansed, she took a moment to look over the information written on her Lucky Charm. Then she tossed it up in the air, exclaiming "Miraculous Ladybug!"  
They watched the bright ladybugs fly all over the city, erasing the damage and destruction caused.

Rena Rouge and Chat Noir joined them for a group "Pound it!" before their attention was brought elsewhere.

"Uuugh," the boy groaned, rubbing his head. "What… what happened? And why do I feel so awful?" he asked weakly, his voice cracking.

Ladybug turned to the boy, a kind smile on her face. "Ruben, right? Are you okay?"

Ruben let the words sink in before he shook his head.

"Something happened at your school's bonfire tonight, didn't it?"

Ruben nodded dejectedly.

Chat appeared by her side. "Maybe we can help?" he offered him his hand, and helped hoist him off the ground. "Mind explaining to us what happened?"

Ruben looked at all four hero's faces, then launched into his story.

A couple of minutes later, they reached the field where the bonfire was being held, his classmates and teachers stood around, looking quite tense.

"Oh Ruben!" his teacher rushed over once she spotted him and the four superheroes, her students followed at her heels. "You're alright! We were so worried about you."

"It's thanks to Paris's superheroes that I'm okay," he glanced back at them with a grin. They nodded and motioned him to go forward.

"Ruben!" a girl's voice shouted as she pushed her way through the crowd of students. "Ruben!" she finally broke through, and rushed towards him. She threw her arms around him. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

He blushed, frozen with shock for a moment before he wordlessly wrapped his arms around her.

"Awww!" Ladybug and Rena exclaimed together.

Carapace and Chat chuckled. Chat Noir inched closer to Ladybug, nudging her with his shoulder. Ladybug glanced up into his glowing green eyes in the firelight, looking intensely down at her. Then her eyes drifted down towards hit mouth that was turned up on one side in a crooked grin.

Her eyes suddenly went wide as her head quickly turned away, her face going red.

"I have a question that's been eating at me for awhile now. Are you two dating yet?" Rena Rouge asked after seeing their exchange.

"No," Ladybug said quickly. Chat Noir cleared his throat, shifting his weight onto his left leg.

"When will you? It was one thing to see you guys fighting akumas and crime together as a regular citizen, knowing you belonged together, but after hanging around you, and after what we found out earlier today-"

"Rena!" Carapace hissed a warning. She just shook her head and waved him off.

"You two love each other, don't you?"

The question seemed to ring through the air. Ladybug and Chat Noir were clearly uncomfortable by their body language, and Carapace felt sorry for them. Alya was always very blunt, but her heart was in the right place. Before today, he knew there was always something between them, but he also knew there must be something in the way to keep them from each other. Unless one of them came to him for help, it was none of his business to get involved.

Chat Noir and Ladybug's Miraculous began to beep.

"Uhh, bug out!" Ladybug waved awkwardly as she turned to leave. Chat laughed nervously and left with only a nod as a goodbye to Rena Rouge and Carapace.

Ladybug quickly headed towards her apartment. She could hear the noise of Chat Noir's baton and breathing behind her. Her heart began to race even more than it had been already.

Rena brought up the subject that both could never bring themselves to mention for one reason or another. Thanks to Rena, there was no avoiding it now.

* * *

 **Thank you so much Jenna for the akuma idea!**

 **I absolutely adore this chapter, so I'd love to hear from all of you! x3**


	13. Chapter 13

**This chapter marks 1 year since I started this fic!**

* * *

Ladybug slipped in through the window of her apartment, Chat Noir only a few seconds behind.

Their transformations ended, and Marinette immediately made a beeline towards her couch. Before she could reach it, however, Adrien gently grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Marinette," he spoke softly. "We have to talk about this." He watched the back of her head as he spoke, hoping she'd turn around and face him. "I know you said you needed some time, and it's only been three weeks. I won't push you. But earlier, you…" Adrien paused a moment, and then let go of her arm. "I just want to know if you're ready to talk about it, now that Rena brought it up."

She stood there in silence a moment, trying to gather up her thoughts and courage before she slowly turned around. "I… I've been meaning to talk to you about it, I just-" her eyes darted away from him. "I just didn't know how to bring it up, and even if I did, I didn't know how to explain myself without sounding weird."

Adrien took her to the couch, and sat on the edge of her coffee table so he could face her. "I'm all ears," he said as he gave her his undivided attention.

Marinette swallowed. "Okay. I guess I'm worried."

"About what?" he leaned closer to her, his vividly green eyes growing anxious.

"You're Adrien, who I always had a crush on. Who I had pictures up of all over my bedroom wall. You gradually became my best friend as we got older. But we grew up, and I saw less of you, which was difficult to deal with because I missed you so much," she admitted. "You're also Chat Noir, my partner that I'd trust with my life. Who I always cared about deeply, and never wanted to see sad or in any kind of pain. I felt at home whenever I was with you, I was free in a sense that I had never been and still haven't been with anyone else. You were more than just my best friend, but there was nothing else I could think of that would describe what you meant to me…" she bit her lip, and started playing with her hands, staring down at them as she continued.

"Two months ago, I found out that these two very different, but very important guys in my life were the same person, and I was so happy and relieved, because the guilt I felt towards both of you - because of the other side of you - had vanished the moment you let go of your transformation. It's just too perfect for it to have worked out this way, and even after seeing you transform with my own eyes, I still sometimes feel like I'm going to wake up and have this all turn out to be some beautiful dream brought on because this is exactly how I'd want it to turn out."

"You're worried this isn't real?" Adrien asked, taking one of her hands in his.

Marinette shook her head. "Not exactly. I'm worried that, because it's just too perfect, I've already used up all of my luck. Last month was really hard on me, and I don't want to go through something like that again. I don't want that for you, either. I guess...I guess I'm afraid by being with you now, it's just pushing our luck."

"Oh…" his face fell. "...You just want to be friends, then?"

"No, that's not what I want," she replied, her expression troubled. Marinette took another breath, then looked intently into his eyes, determination radiating from her. "I know I've never said it, but… I love you, Adrien," Marinette's tone was soft, but her eyes were determined to show him just how much she cared for him. "And I want to be with you. You have no idea how much, but-" she started to explain, but Adrien stopped her.

The words "I love you" and "I want to be with you" were all he needed to hear. Suddenly he felt as if he was on a cloud, completely weightless, with the most warm and fuzzy feeling spreading throughout his chest and down to the tips of his limbs. Adrien closed the distance between them, hesitating for a split second in case she wanted to push him away.

The moment his lips touched hers, a memory came back to him. One from years ago that he had only seen in a picture. Ladybug was kissing him to break the spell from Dark Cupid's arrow. He could feel her desperation, and her love in that kiss.

"I remember," he breathed, before kissing her again.

"Remember what?" she asked, sounding dazed.

Adrien grinned. "Dark Cupid, when I got hit by one of his arrows. You kissed me to save me. I remember it."

"Oh, that," she laughed once. "That was nothing."

"No, it wasn't," he insisted. "You know it wasn't nothing. Do you think just anyone could've kissed me to break the spell? Only true love's kiss can break spells like that." He leaned his forehead against hers. "That's why we can overcome anything. And why I'm asking you to give us a chance now. Please, Marinette?"

Marinette nodded and wrapped her arms around him. "You're right, I'm just being silly."

Adrien hugged her tightly for a few moments before letting go. He sighed. "As much as I don't want to leave, I have to. I have an important day tomorrow, and if I don't leave now, I won't be able to leave at all. I'll see you tomorrow," he stroked her cheek, gave her a peck on her forehead, and started to turn around.

"Wait!" she exclaimed, taking his hand. She stood on her tiptoes and grabbed his face. She pulled him in for a kiss, much like their first.  
"I love you," Marinette whispered, letting him go.

Adrien gave her a crooked smile and a laugh. "I will never get tired of hearing you say that. I love you, too."

* * *

 **I estimate it'll take me another 7-10 chapters to finish this story, and I'm going to try to get it written up as long as possible, since this fic has been going on for a year already.**

 **As always, please let me know what you think about this chapter, and about Broken!**


	14. Chapter 14

Adrien had just climbed into bed, settling in for the night. Plagg slept on a pillow next to Adrien every night. Although the Cat Kwami would never admit it, he didn't like being alone very much.

Thoughts drifting to Marinette, Adrien's grin grew wider and wider as he lied on his back, glancing up at the dark ceiling.

"Did that really happen?" he asked.

"It really did," Plagg answered. "About time, too. You two really put us through a lot. And another positive thing to come out of this is I get to see Tikki more often," he cooed, his tone sounded similar to that he used when speaking of cheese, particularly Camembert.

Adrien rolled over to face his Kwami. "Didn't you tell me once, 'Who needs ladies when you have cheese?'"

Plagg floated up above his pillow, crossing his arms. "That's what I tell myself when I can't be with Tikki," he stated. "I've had to go dozens of years at a time without her. And you think _you_ have had it bad?"

The next morning, on her way out of her apartment, Marinette ran into Adrien.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going," she apologized quickly, picking up her keys off the ground, before she noticed who she had bumped into. "Ah, Adrien! What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at work?"

"I'm on my way. I thought I'd pick you up and take you to work."

She glanced behind him at his car, then back to him. Her first thought was to brush the offer off and take the bus as she usually did, but things had changed, and he might take her denying the offer the wrong way.

"That would be great, thank you," she smiled. He took her hand and led her to the car.

"Do you have some time after work today?" Adrien asked as he snapped his seat belt into place.

"Well…" she started, teasing him just a little. Then she laughed. "Of course I have time for you. What's up?"

He smiled, his eyes gleaming at the sound of her laugh. "You'll find out when I pick you up from work."

When she arrived at work, her boss Sophie spotted her getting out of Adrien's car and waving goodbye as she shut the door and watched him drive away.

The second Marinette walked into the building, Sophie dragged her aside, her face lit up with excitement.

"Was that Adrien Agreste's car?"

She nodded. "Good morning to you, too, Sophie."

"I thought you weren't getting along," her boss crossed her arms, trying to look as if she didn't approve, even though she secretly did, and was very ecstatic.

"We weren't, but… things changed, and now we're...together," she admitted with a small shrug of her shoulders. It took a few moments for it to sink in after saying it aloud for the first time. It was definitely something she'd have to get her mind wrapped around.

"About time," she said, "he came in here way too often to be realistic, to be perfectly honest with you. Nobody minorly tears their clothes that often."

"What do you mean?" Marinette wondered. "I don't recall seeing him come here that often."

Sophie smiled deviously. "That's because a majority of the times he came by, you were too busy to see him. So, I was the one that patched up his clothes when your time was occupied elsewhere. He would always sit right there," she pointed at her workstation, and the chair that sat in front of her desk. "And he'd just watch you work as he waited. I asked him if he knew you, because at first it was really off-putting that a total stranger would look at you like that, but he told me you were old friends, and that you guys had met in Collège. By the way he spoke of you, and looked at you, I couldn't doubt that he was telling me the truth."

"So that's why you were asking me all about Adrien that day. Very sly, Sophie," Marinette wagged her finger at her boss, but she just couldn't help herself from grinning.

Sophie brushed her hair back. "Of course, darling. Now tell me, do the two of you have plans tonight?"

"Ah, yeah, he's picking me up after work. He has a surprise planned," her cheeks were tinted pink as she fiddled with the strap of her purse.

"You can leave an hour early today, so you can have an extra hour with your prince," she winked before heading off to her desk.

"Prince?" she wondered aloud. What book was she reading now?

It turned out to be a slow day at work for Marinette, which meant she had less work to keep her busy, and more time for her mind to wander. Now thanks to Sophie's comment, that free time was spent with her picturing Adrien as a prince from a fairytale. He wore a white 16th century tailcoat, with intricate golden decor and buttons. The cuffs of his sleeves and his collar were a pale green. His belt was his father's logo, only fashioned to be much more elegant and regal. His pants were the same shade of green as his cuffs and collar, and his boots that went all the way up to the bottom of his kneecaps were a light brown. Adrien had a grand sword fastened on his hip…. Marinette quickly stopped herself from wandering too far into her daydream, as the more she more she thought about it, the more details she would add to this imaginary costume, and the more unreal he was beginning to feel. She spent the rest of the day finishing every last bit of work she could possibly get done.

As Sophie had promised, Marinette was let off work early.

"How'd you manage that?" Adrien had asked her when she called to tell him to pick her up an hour early.

"It's because of you. She knows about us, so she let me off. Sophie told me you used to come into the shop a lot. You weren't exactly subtle, were you?" she snickered.

She heard Adrien laugh on the other end. "Apparently I was subtle enough that you didn't notice I was there most of the time."

"Hey!" she exclaimed in a teasing tone. "So, what are we doing?"

Adrien pulled up in front of her then. He got out of his car and opened the door for her. "You'll see," he responded, motioning her in. "Your carriage awaits, m'lady."

"Ah," she stood there in surprise, the only movement from her was her blinking.

"What is it?"

"It's nothing," she waved her hand back and forth, as if to brush away her thoughts. Marinette climbed in, and they headed towards Adrien's house. Once there, he led her into a room she had never been in before. The moment she laid eyes on it, she forgot to breathe.

There was a beautiful grand piano in the middle of the very large room. He had laced the bookshelves that lined the walls, as well as the piano itself with delicate white and pink flowers that looked as if they'd fall apart with even a gentle touch. The fragrance they emitted was heavenly, calming, with just the right amount of sweetness. Although there were no candles the lighting in the room was made to imitate them perfectly.

Adrien sat at the piano, and began to play for her as she remained near the entrance, where she had frozen in place upon her entry, taking it all in. At once, she recognized the melody he was playing as Wherever You Will Go by The Calling. As soon as the music started, each note he played touched her heart. By the end, she had silent tears streaming down her cheeks. Adrien motioned her over, to join him. He then pulled out the lucky charm she had given him many years ago.

"This is my most prized possession," he admitted. "Whenever I carry it with me, I feel like you're with me even when you aren't there. If I ever forget it and leave it at home, I feel uneasy until I have it again."

"It really means that much to you?" breathed Marinette, she glanced up from the beads in his hands to his eyes.

"It really does," he confirmed, "because you gave it to me." Adrien leaned in towards Marinette as he went to put the beads in his pocket.

Suddenly, they heard the thrumming of multiple objects hitting the hard ground, the sound echoing around the room.

"No, no, no!" Adrien gasped, as he looked down. Scrambling, he desperately began picking up the beads that had slid off the string and onto the tiled floor. Marinette got off the bench and picked up every bead she could find. "There's one missing!" he exclaimed, looking around the room.

Marinette's phone began to ring. "It's my mom, I'll take care of this quickly and we'll find the missing bead. Don't worry, it's here somewhere," she assured him before taking the call. "Hello?"

"Honey, you need to come home immediately! Your Nainai called me, dad's in the hospital and she can't manage work and taking care of him. She needs us to help out and be her support. I've arranged for us to fly to Shanghai tomorrow. Can you get some time off of work?"

Marinette looked down at Adrien who was still searching for the bead.

"Yes, h-how long will we be away?"

The last word caught Adrien's attention. He got to his feet and made his way over to Marinette.

"At least a month.. It'll be difficult, with the bakery and your work, but family always comes first."

"It's our responsibility, I know, Maman," she replied, her tone nearly emotionless. "I understand. I'll be home soon," she hung up.

"...You're leaving?" he murmured, his face suddenly gone pale, as if he'd just seen a ghost. "Where?"

"My grandpa's sick, and my grandma can't handle their business alone and take care of him," she informed him, not looking him in the eyes. "They live in China."

"Is he okay?"

She shook her head. "I don't know, she didn't say much on the phone."

Adrien took her hands. "How long will you be gone?"

She swallowed. "A month."

"A...a month?" he barely got out.

"At least, it could be longer. Like I said, I don't know the details. I'm so sorry, Adrien," Marinette whispered in despair.

"I'll come with you!" he offered, quickly guiding her out of the room and towards the door. "I can help you. You can't speak Mandarin, so I can be your translator. I can also help with whatever else you need."

Marinette gave him a small smile, and cupped his face in her hands. "I know you would, but you know you can't come. Your father wouldn't allow you to miss work to fly halfway across the world on your own for even a day, much less a month minimum. I'll be okay, don't worry."

"I know you will, that's not-" he cut himself off.

"Not what?" she asked.

"That's not what's upsetting me. We just got together, and now you're leaving, indefinitely. I don't know when I'll see you again, and I don't want to be away from you, not again," his eyes began to burn, so he glanced away, hoping she wouldn't see. But she saw the pain and the threat of tears in his eyes anyway.

"I know, I don't want this either. But it's not forever, okay? Maybe everything will go well and we'll come home sooner than planned," Marinette offered him, hoping to perk him up a little bit, even though she feared she'd be gone much longer, given her mother's grave tone on the phone and the early scheduled flight.

"When do you leave?"

"Tomorrow," she said. Plagg and Tikki had overheard everything from the other room, and quietly said their goodbyes before Tikki snuggled into Marinette's purse. Adrien wordlessly got Marinette's coat and scarf off of the rack, helping her put them on. After putting on his own, he took her hand in his and walked her home.

What he thought would be the start of everything for him, for them, turned out to be only a taste of what could be, and what he still hoped would be someday.

Plagg had remained behind, wanting to gorge himself on the stinky cheese until he slipped into a food coma, his way of dealing with his pain. While stuffing himself, he saw a shiny object on the floor. Curious, he glided down to it, identifying it immediately, before he reached it. It was one of the beads from the string Adrien carried around with him, something he knew he would go crazy looking for, especially with today's new development. With a sigh, Plagg set down his cheese so he could carry the bead over to the table, where he knew Adrien would see it and put his lucky charm back together again.

* * *

 **I wrote and posted this super late, so come morning I may reread it and tweak some things. But I'm happy with it for the moment.**

 **OUaT inspired this chapter just a bit with the whole prince thing. Whoops!**

 **Please leave a review or favorite/follow to tell me what you think!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Result of middle-of-the-night feels.**

* * *

Adrien walked Marinette to her apartment in silence. The sun had set early as clouds rolled in, a low rumble in the background, warning of an impending storm.

She put together her luggage full of important things she'd need for the trip. Clothes, toiletries, her passport. Her movements were almost automatic, Adrien noticed, as she went around the room and put things into her pink suitcase. Wanting to say something, but not knowing what, he stood, leaning against Marinette's door frame, waiting patiently for her to be done. Marinette, with her phone in hand, called her mother to let her know she was on her way home as she locked up her apartment.

In the time she took to pack, the storm had moved in closer to the city. Thunder was louder, the sky was darker, and the lightning was beginning to light up everything in quick, blinding bursts. As the wind picked up and the rain began to fall onto the pavement, Adrien grabbed Marinette's luggage from her grasp in one of his hands, and took her hand in the other. They rushed for her home as quickly as they could go, Adrien leading the way. Every once in awhile, he'd glance up at the melancholy sky, his hand shielding his face from the large drops of rain.

When they did make it to the bakery, they were half-soaked. Marinette opened the door, the entrance that lead directly to her old home instead of the bakery itself. Adrien stepped in, but only enough to shut the door behind him.

Neither of them knew what to say as they stared into each other's eyes. This was goodbye, but for how long, they didn't know. By not saying anything, they didn't have to part ways. By not moving a muscle, the moment they dreaded so much didn't have to happen. Several moments had passed when Sabine entered the hallway.

"Oh, don't mind me, I'll give you two some privacy," she said quickly, avoiding looking in their direction as she backed out of the room. Marinette caught a glimpse of her eyes that looked weary from worry, a few tears had certainly been shed from the slight redness that rimmed them. Now after seeing her daughter with Adrien, looking so downhearted and worried to part ways with him, they now reflected another kind of sadness and pain, too.

Marinette glance drifted down to the scarf wrapped around Adrien's neck, focusing solely on it. "I'm so sorry," she murmured, slightly shaking.

"For what? It's not your fault, Marinette. Things happen, and your family needs you," he said, forcing himself to sound mildly cheerful.

She just shook her head. Adrien pulled her to him gently, and she buried her face in his chest, trying not to cry. He stroked her hair as he spoke.

"Look at this in a positive light, okay? You're going to a new country, to try new food, experience new things, make new friends, and to help out your family. Paris and I will be here when you're ready to come back home."

Marinette stiffened in his arms. Adrien noticed this, knowing just the reason for it.

"We'll take care of Paris. We've done it before while you were away, so don't worry too much, alright? Focus on your family and try to have a good time."

She let go then, and dared to look into his eyes. His expression was light, his kind eyes looking down at her with a small smile on his lips.

"I'll miss you," her voice broke as she cradled his face in her hands.

"I'll miss you, too," he whispered sadly, brushing a tear of hers off her cheek and letting his arm fall back to his side.

Something flashed in Marinette's gaze suddenly, catching Adrien off-guard. Before he could get a chance to ask her what was up, she pulled his face towards hers. He felt her breath brush against his face momentarily, then her lips were on his. There was urgency behind this kiss, and desperation. But also love. He focused only on that, the feeling so overwhelming that he knew exactly how she felt about him without saying a single word.

Then she let go of him, her eyes gleaming, and the corners of her mouth barely tugging upwards.

"Goodbye," Marinette whispered, turning quickly on her heels and rushing up the stairs, two at a time.

Adrien was still several moments in the past, his heart throbbing in his chest in strange lurches that were almost painful. He felt the oddest feeling, both so blissful, so amazingly happy he could burst, and yet so depressed and miserable he felt physically ill. The feeling took his breath away.

Thunder rumbled so loudly that the walls rattled then, breaking him from his complicated reverie.

He glanced up at the staircase, his Lady no longer in sight. He clenched his jaw and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to muster up every bit of selflessness in him to turn around and walk out the door. If he took even one step forward, Adrien knew he'd rush up those stairs and ask her, even beg her to stay if that's what it took. But going to China was what her family needed from her. He had no place to ask her family to allow her to stay behind. And this could be a good experience for her, to experience her family's culture. He couldn't be that selfish.

With a deep breath, and eyes still closed, Adrien turned around and stepped out the door, into the raging storm. The feeling of anticipation and longing for someone's return was newly lit in his heart again, only this time was for his departing love.

* * *

 **Sorry it's short! Next one coming soon. (:**


	16. Chapter 16

Marinette rushed up the steps to her old bed and opened up the latch above to walk onto the balcony. A sheet of rain and a chilling gust of wind hit her as she quickly pushed herself up and shut the door behind her to avoid her bed getting soaked.

She just wanted to see him one last time while he was still in sight. The very last time possible until she left. Marinette leaned her hands on the railing, watching him slowly walk further away from her in the storm. At the rate he was going, he'd surely be soaked to the bone by the time he reached his house. If that was where he was heading, anyway. She hoped he was.

Once he was out of sight, she turned around and sunk to the ground. Tikki hovered next to her head, her large blue eyes looking sadder than Marinette had ever seen them.

"I'm so sorry, Tikki. I really don't want to take you away from Plagg," she mumbled.

"Oh Marinette, don't worry about me! We've had to part ways so many times throughout time, it's really part of a routine at this point. It's you I'm worried about. The two of you have been through so much together the past several years, and just when things finally began to work out for you…."

Tears began to well up in Marinette's eyes and her lower lip quivered, her gaze unfocused and lost. "Let's talk about it inside. You have a flight tomorrow, you can't afford to get sick by staying out in the cold and rain."

There was a slow rap on the door. Nino got up off the couch to answer his door and was in complete shock at what greeted him.

"Adrien?!" he gasped. His best friend stood there, completely drenched. Small streams of water fell to the floor from his coat and hair. His face was paler than he's ever seen it, but that wasn't the most shocking change in his appearance. Adrien's eyes were empty, as if all the light had been drained from them. "Dude, what happened to you?"

Slowly, Adrien glanced up from the ground to look at his best friend. "She's leaving. Marinette's leaving Paris."

Nino's jaw dropped at the news, but then he quickly put it aside. "You need to warm up and dry off," he nodded his head to the side, motioning Adrien to come in. He quickly helped him out of his jacket once he was inside. "Go take a shower. I'll lend you some dry clothes. Then you can tell me what happened."

He took the jacket to be washed and dried, leaving Adrien alone to shower and think. Forty-five minutes had passed before he walked out of the bathroom with messy towel-dried locks and clothes that were just a couple of sizes too big. The same pale face and expression remained, however.

"Here," Nino offered him a mug full of hot tea.

Adrien took it gratefully and took a sip before holding it close to his chest, snuggling himself into the cozy cushions on the couch. "Thanks, Nino."

"Sure. Now tell me, what happened?"

Adrien stared at the dark brown liquid in his cup. "We finally got together. After all of these years, after everything we've been through… and she gets a call that's sending her to China."

"What?" Nino got out of his chair and plunked down next to his hurting friend.

"Her grandfather's sick, and her grandmother can't manage taking care of both him and their business on her own."

Nino looked puzzled. "I don't understand. Why does Marinette have to go? Her parents are going, right?"

"It's customary in Chinese families when a parent or grandparent is ill, for them to be taken care of by their family members, and for them to step up and help out with chores and income, if necessary. They're very driven by family and responsibility," he shrugged, not really understanding such a concept with his own family life. "I also don't know how ill he is, it might be serious. Her mom said they'd be away for at least a month, but they really aren't sure of the timeline."

"Ah, I see," Nino looked at his clasped hands. "Alya's on her way over. I told her that you were here and she wanted to see you."

Adrien gave him a look of disapproval.

"She wants you to know that she's here for you."

"I know," he sighed.

There was a quick knock on the door a couple of silent minutes later, and Alya rushed in before Nino could stand up. "I just spoke with Marinette. She didn't tell me much, but she seemed extremely depressed. It's just a short trip, right?" Fear started to show in Alya's amber eyes.

Adrien shook his head. "We don't know, and she doesn't know either."

"The trip isn't the the real reason Marinette's so upset…" Nino started.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

Nino glanced nervously at his best friend, then faced his girlfriend. Marinette must not have told her the news, either. "Marinette and Adrien are officially a couple."

Alya blinked, then her eyes went wide. "...What?!" she squeaked. "When?"  
"Yesterday," mumbled Adrien, his mug to his mouth.

"Yester...day… oh," she breathed as it dawned on her why both of them were so depressed. "Aw, but Adrien, she'll be back."

"Will she?" he asked sharply. "She's going really far away, for a long time. Long enough to figure out if she likes it there more than here, and long enough-" he cut himself off, taking an aggressive sip of his tea.

"Long enough what? Long enough to find someone she likes better?"

She watched his jaws clench.

"Boy, that girl's crazy for only one guy, and that's you. Trust me, I know my BFF," she laughed. Then she sat on the other side of Adrien from Nino and wrapped her arm around his shoulder.  
"She loves you and only you. I've never seen anybody so dedicated and loyal to someone they weren't even in a relationship with as she is. She's not the type to throw that away when a cute guy walks by."

"What about Gage? Weren't they...dating?" he spat the last word.

"Dude, it wasn't like that. Like you, he's a customer at her shop," Nino chimed in. "Marinette was just being Marinette. Kind, friendly, polite. Besides that fashion show he invited her to, she said she only met up with him a few times for coffee in the mornings. Heck, even I know how Marinette feels about you, and I'm not usually good with this sort of thing."

Adrien's shoulders relaxed just a little, but his brows remained stitched together. "I just have this feeling… I don't know, maybe what happened to my mom caused me to be extra afraid to lose someone else I love. I want to go with her more than anything, but my father would never let me. I have to be helpless and let her go."

Alya analyzed his expression and the corners of her mouth went up slightly. "At least you have us to talk or come to if you need us. I found out I finally get to come back home, you won't be the only one here missing her."

Nino nodded. "Whenever you need me, dude, I'm here for you."

He tried giving his friends a reassuring smile. "Thank you, guys. You're the best," he said. Truly, if he didn't have them, he'd be back to that bleak time when he was fully under his father's thumb, without friends or anyone who cared about him. Completely alone.  
But as much as he loved his friends, they couldn't quite understand his pain and crippling fear that was threatening to overwhelm him. Right now it felt as if his heart was no longer in beating strongly in his chest, but snug in Marinette's suitcase, heading for China in the morning.

When Adrien returned home quite late that night, he headed straight for bed. He hoped that a few hours of sleep would help ease his aching heart. Or better yet, that he'd wake up to her phone call the next morning, inviting him over for breakfast and prove that this was all just some joke.

He ignored Plagg's attempt to inform him about the missing bead - something that had slipped Adrien's mind for the moment - and crawled into his large bed. He faced the window, seeing the full moon shining bright in the sky after a stormy afternoon. It mesmerized him, captivating his attention. He suddenly felt a calm he hadn't felt since Sabine's phone call.

The moon eventually lulled him to sleep as Marinette lied wide-awake, her head at the foot of her bed, watching the moon above. It reminded her of that night many years ago when she had a bit of a heart-to-heart with Chat Noir. That night when she found out his feelings for Ladybug, and when she confessed her feelings for another boy to him. Marinette laughed once without humor at how dumb they were back then. But she wouldn't have changed a single moment for anything in the world. She was going to come back home, this wasn't forever, even though she had no idea when she'd see the city she fought so hard for years to protect. She just hoped Adrien would be able to wait for her to return.


	17. Chapter 17

Marinette didn't sleep that night. Every time she did begin to doze off, for some reason she jerked herself awake. It became too much for her to stand, and with a groan, she grabbed her coat and spent her last free hours on her old balcony, watching the city lights fade with the rising sun.

The morning went by in a blur as she desperately wanted to stay in the moment. That feeling of knowing at the end of the day, she'd be far from home was unimaginable and hard to swallow. She had only been away from home once, and it wasn't too far away, comparatively. She took a trip over to Italy for a couple of weeks. The situation was trivial, really, for work. Sophie wanted her to attend an event that would help further her career. Marinette remembered hearing that Adrien was finally back in Paris shortly after she had arrived in Rome, and by the time she returned, he had already left for Taiwan for a 6-month stay.

The twelve hour flight was long and stressful. She couldn't speak to Tikki with her parents and other passengers around, which made the the trip a lot worse than it could have been. Instead of talking with her little friend, she tried to think about her memories of Paris, both with her friends and family, as well as fighting crime with Chat Noir and her team. When that became too much for her, she tried to focus on the possibility of making some new friends and having new experiences, like Adrien hoped for her.

Around midnight in Shanghai, their plane finally touched down. She couldn't believe how bright the city was. It was nearly 1 AM, yet there were lights _everywhere_. Even places where she never thought lights could or should be.  
Another thing she noticed right off the bat was just how crowded the city was. Shanghai was approximately six times the size of Paris, and the metro area over twice as big as Paris'. She knew this before she left, but knowing the population difference didn't help her feel any more comfortable with the sudden increase of people.

"I know it's a lot to take in," Sabine told her family, almost sheepishly. "But I'm sure you'll get used to it."

When the cab finally pulled up in front of the apartment building that her grandparents resided, Marinette was absolutely exhausted from the long day of travel. She got to her room and collapsed on her bed, falling asleep moments after her head hit the pillow.

Upon morning, she woke up to a extremely bright room. At first, she was startled as she glanced around at the bright white comforter, lacy curtains, and elegant dressers that all seemed to glow with the reflection of the sunlight beaming through all the windows in the room. Then she saw Tikki curled up on the pillow next to her and let out a breath of relief.

Reaching for her phone, she checked the time, and immediately went to her messages. Alya had texted her several times, pressing her more and more with each one to call her the moment she got in. Considering it was 9:15 AM China Standard Time, back in Paris, her friends would still be sleeping for several hours to come. Hopefully Alya would understand and let her off the hook for keeping her waiting.

She noticed she hadn't received a single text, phone call, or voicemail from Adrien. Was he waiting for her to contact him? Knowing him, he probably was.

She began feeling guilty for keeping her friends waiting.

Alya often went to bed early and would most likely not appreciate a phone call… but Adrien was a total night owl. He'd most likely be awake still.

Marinette stared at her phone, tapping her thumb against the screen as she contemplated on what she should do. She really, _really_ wanted to hear his voice….

With a sigh, she pressed the button to dial his number and waited, each time the ringback tone rang, she grew more anxious. Marinette started to wonder whether she was too impulsive to call him so late.

Adrien had just finished showering. He was in the process of finally getting ready to sleep, though he questioned whether or not he would really be able to. He got out his toothbrush, toothpaste, and began scrubbing his teeth clean when he heard his phone go off in his room.

"Can you see who it is?" Adrien called out, since Plagg was nearby. He peeked out of his bathroom, waiting for an answer at who was calling.

"It's your girlfriend," Plagg said with a tired sigh, then he curled himself back up in Adrien's bed.

His eyes lit up like a child's on Christmas morning. He quickly spat out the toothpaste in his mouth and jetted out the bathroom door. Adrien yanked the phone from his nightstand and threw himself backwards onto his bed, annoying Plagg who protested loudly.

"Hello?" he answered, sounding a bit out of breath.

"Adrien! You're still up. You were still up, right? I didn't wake you?" she started fumbling with her words, suddenly quite nervous.

Adrien laughed. "I was just getting ready to turn in for the night. I'm so happy to hear from you," he breathed.

"I'm sorry I didn't call you before now. We got in really late last night and I just woke up."

He took a look at the time. "Oh that's right, you're 6 hours ahead…." he sounded disappointed.

Marinette glanced over at Tikki who had just woken up, and was now perched on top of the fluffy pillow, listening intently to the conversation.

"I'm going to head to the hospital to see my grandparents soon, but I should be free later. Could you call me when you wake up?"

"There's nothing I'd rather do," he replied, his grin apparent in his voice. "But can I ask for a favor in the meantime?"

"Maybe," she teased. "What would it be?"

She thought of a number of things he could ask from her, but what he asked caught her off guard. For some reason, Marinette felt her heart break just a little when he spoke his request.

"Will you stay on the phone with me until I fall asleep?"

Maybe it was his tone. Maybe it her own desire to keep him as close to her as was possible. Whatever it was, it hit her hard.

"S-Sure," she said weakly. "I'll be right here until you fall asleep."

They only spoke for a few minutes more when Adrien began to sound a bit incoherent, sleep taking hold of him.

"You really should go to sleep. Paris only has one of us right now, the other can't be dead on his feet."

She heard him groan in protest.

"You know I'm right. Go to sleep, Kitty. When you wake up, I'll just be a call away."

He liked the sound of that. "Okaaay," he sighed. "Goodnight, Marinette."

She giggled at how cute he sounded when he was sleepy. "Goodnight, Adrien."  
Marinette hung up, groaned, and fell back onto her mattress.

"What's wrong?" Tikki asked, now floating in front of the distressed young woman.

"You know what he asked me?" she rushed, sprawling her arms out on either side of her. "He asked me to stay on the phone with him until he fell asleep. He sounded so…" she tried thinking of a good word to describe it. "Downhearted. I haven't even been away a full 24 hours yet, and it's starting to take a toll on both of us already."

"Just take it one day at a time. Maybe this trip won't take as long as you think?" she offered, eyeing Marinette's suitcase. Marinette had brought over some cookies from her parents bakery, and Tikki was starting to feel pretty hungry.

Marinette caught on to what she wanted quickly. She threw her suitcase open and grabbed the paper bag filled with them, removing one and handing it over. "You can stay here while I'm gone if you like. I won't be transforming here."

Tikki thought about it while munching on her delicious treat. "Actually, I think I better go with you. We might be in an entirely different country, but you never know when there could be danger."

"Fair enough. I'm going to go eat breakfast with my parents. I'll come back in right before we leave."

Tikki nodded, still working on polishing off her cookie as Marinette shut the door behind her.

"Good morning, sweetheart," Tom greeted her as he walked by her with plates filled with food in his hands, stopping to kiss her on the top of her head.

"Morning Papa."

"Good morning, sweetie," Sabine smiled at her from the table. "I need to speak with you before we leave."

Marinette didn't like the seriousness in her mother's tone, especially since it was such a rarity. It was never good news. She gulped.

"Okay," she walked to the table and sat by her mother, trying not to let her anxiety get any worse.

"Your grandparents… well, there are things I never told you that I should have. Now that you're grown up, I believe it's time I should before we go over to see them," Sabine stared down at her folded hands that rested on the wooden table, looking quite uncomfortable.

"What do you mean?" Marinette sat up in her chair, now quite interested in knowing what she was about to say.

"You see, your grandparents and I were visiting France for business when I was around your age. We stopped in at a bakery, where your father was working. I went into that shop every day of our trip, and when it came time to leave, to head back to China... I had already fallen in love with the city, and your father. I just couldn't bear to leave," she looked across the table at her husband with the softest expression, filled with nothing but love and adoration, that he reciprocated. Marinette smiled to herself. It always made her happy to see them still so in love after all these years.

"My parents of course did not approve, particularly my mother," she went on, a hint of underlying annoyance in her tone. "They had hoped I'd take over their business one day, marry into a well-known family that would benefit our family's business, and everything would be set. But I didn't want that kind of life, a life where I obeyed my parents every whim and married who they wanted me to instead of for love. After coming to France, I knew any chance I had to escape was there. I had broken the news to them the morning we were set to leave that I wouldn't be coming with them," she took a sip of her tea. "Ultimately, it ended with them making the trip to Shanghai without me. They had disowned me, then. And as much as I loved my parents, they didn't understand just how miserable I was. So much so that I was actually relieved when they left, because I was finally set free. Your father helped me get on my feet by taking me on at the bakery. We got married a few months later. It was honestly the best decision of my life, and I don't regret it at all."

Marinette grinned at her mother, but her eyes expressed the sadness she felt hearing about her mom's past. She reached over and squeezed her hand. "I had no idea things were so hard for you. I'm so sorry, Mom."

Sabine stroked her daughter's hand. "Now that we're here, I wanted to make sure you wouldn't get caught up in the same thing I did. You're with Adrien now, and that makes us so happy, sweetie. And you're working on accomplishing your dreams. No matter how much my mother may pressure you, or annoy you, remember we're just here to help out temporarily. I don't want you to feel like you need to step in and take charge of anything, okay? Your happiness is what's most important to us."

"Thank you for being so concerned about me, Mom," her eyes began tearing up. "Don't worry, I'll be careful around her."

Sabine stroked her daughter's cheek and leaned her forehead on hers. "I'm so proud of you, you know."

"We both are," Tom added. Marinette pushed her chair back and rushed to give them both a hug, feeling much more appreciative for what she had than before. The family finished making and eating breakfast together before they took a cab to the hospital.

Sabine stood at the entrance of the room, looking as if she was about to jump out of her skin. The last time she spoke with her mother was when they had came to Paris for another business trip, and decided to visit Sabine after they heard the news that they had a granddaughter.

"You can do it," Marinette encouraged her. Though she'd be lying if she said she wasn't completely nervous as well. She only saw this set of grandparents twice in her life, the last being many years ago. She wasn't even sure her mother was aware of that visit.  
Even though Marinette didn't spend much time with either of them on their short visits, she took a liking to her grandfather right away. Her grandmother, admittingly, frightened her just a bit.

Marinette swallowed, her arm wrapped around her mom's, and followed her into the room.


	18. Chapter 18

"Lao Lao," Marinette greeted her grandmother with a bow. The action felt foreign to her.

"Marinette," her grandmother greeted pleasantly, looking worn and tired. "Look at you, you've grown!"

She laughed nervously.

"Come," she motioned for her to sit on the edge of her grandfather's bed. "Dear, Marinette's flown all the way from Paris to come see you," murmured her grandmother in Mandarin. He stirred, his eyes beginning to flutter open.

"Mari...Marinette…?" he grumbled, the corners of his face beginning to stretch upward.

"Lao Ye," she took his hand with a sad smile on her face. She didn't have many memories with him, but she cared greatly about him and cherished the few memories they did share.

"My beautiful granddaughter, oh how you've grown!" he beamed, his eyes glistening. "You were still so little when I last saw you…"

"How are you feeling?" Marinette asked, her eyebrows pinching together with great concern.

"I'll be just fine, you don't have to worry about me. The real question is, how are you?" he wondered, pushing himself up into a sitting position. Marinette fluffed his pillow, moving it so he could lean back comfortably.

"I'm doing really well, Lao Ye. I've been working on some designs I'm going to -"

There was a sudden knock at the door and a young man entered with a bag of food firmly in his hands.

"Ah, Jasper," Mrs. Cheng got out of her seat and approached him, taking the bag from his hands. "Thank you so much for these."

"Of course," he gave a single nod, and his attention drifted to Marinette.

"Jasper, this is our granddaughter, Marinette, from Paris," she said in French, confusing Marinette.

"Nice to meet you, Marinette. I'm Jasper," he replied in perfect French. She didn't notice her mouth had slacked open and her eyes went wide.

"Marinette," her grandmother hissed. "Close your mouth, that's very impolite!"

Jasper chuckled as he smiled. "It's okay, Mrs. Cheng. I don't think Marinette was expecting to hear her mother tongue spoken by anyone here."

"I'm so sorry," Marinette spoke quickly as she came to her senses. "I really wasn't expecting it. Actually, I've been quite worried at how I was going to get around Shanghai since I really don't know Mandarin."

"I'd be happy to show you around and be your translator," Jasper offered.

"You can start right now," her grandmother pressed. "I have some matters to discuss with my daughter and her husband. You can bring her back to my house when you're through," she waved them away, her attention no longer on the two youngest in the room. Marinette glanced nervously at her mother who gave her a reassuring nod. She didn't want to leave her mother alone, but her dad was there so hopefully things couldn't get _too_ out of hand.

Marinette and Jasper left the room quickly, and she let out an exaggerated breath once the door shut behind them.

Jasper laughed. "I see she makes you as nervous as she does me!"

She laughed, too. "I've only seen her twice in my life, and I just found out the truth as to why I haven't seen her more. I'm a bit worried to be here, actually, now that I know," Marinette admitted, staring down at her feet as they strolled down the hospital hallway, towards the elevators.

"Why's that?" Jasper wondered, giving the nurses sitting at their desks a sheepish smile as their attention was drawn away from their work by the foreign language they spoke.

"She tried to force my mom to marry for business, so she could take over when the time came. But she refused and stayed in Paris on their last trip together as a family. It's where she met my dad... and the rest is history."

"Yeah...I know about that," he brushed a hand through his brown hair then stuffed both hands in his pockets.

She tilted her head to the side, waiting for him to continue.

"Your grandparents and my grandparents had arranged your mom and my dad's engagement."

"What?!" she screeched, then remembering where she was, she looked back down at the ground, biting her lip.

Jasper pressed the button to the elevator. "I'll tell you about it when we get outside."

It took several minutes for them to finally get out of the massive hospital. Nearby was a park that Jasper led her to, away from the noise.

"Anyway, my dad told me that he was supposed to marry your mother, but he got news that she refused to return from Paris. My grandparents gave yours a pretty difficult time about it. In the end, they found my mom and although the arrangement wasn't ideal, it was the best they could do."

Marinette had a disgusted look on her face. "I get that it's really common for famous families to arrange marriages, but I think it's wrong to marry for any reason other than love."

"Oh, I agree," he voiced strongly. "Growing up, my parents seemed to just tolerate each other. There wasn't much of a bond between them, so I wasn't really sure of what love was really supposed to be like. I was always very curious about this 'love', so I began studying real-life examples as well as fictional relationships. One of my favorites is actually Ladybug and Chat Noir," he nudged her with a smile, knowing she'd be well-educated on them, given she was from their city.

"O-oh, really?" she giggled nervously, her cheeks going a bit pink. "Why's that?"

"When I was in Paris a few months ago on a business trip, Ladybug and Chat Noir saved me and a few other bystanders from an - akuma, is it?"

"Right," she answered.

"I was curious about these heroes, and I was very grateful to them for saving my life. So I followed a site called the Ladyblog and learned all about them. It's very obvious how much they love and care about each other, after watching them save Paris from the beginning of Hawk Moth's reign. But it seems like something's been keeping them apart," he looked ahead of the path they were walking on, his eyes out of focus.

Marinette let out a sad laugh. "I think you're right about that."

"I'm rooting for them," he said quietly after a few moments of silence. "And I hope I can find something like they have someday. The way Chat Noir puts himself in the most dangerous situations to protect her, and the way Ladybug looks at him... it's admirable. Who wouldn't want that?"

Marinette examined his expression. She could see the sadness etched in his frown and the loneliness in his eyes.

"That's why I'm nervous about being here," Marinette admitted. "I know she's going to try to replace my mother with me. But I have a life in Paris. Friends. A job that'll lead me to my dream. And… someone I love," she put her hand over her heart and closed her eyes. Jasper bringing up Ladybug and Chat Noir and the way he viewed them stirred up the pain in her heart.

A couple stared at Marinette and Jasper as they walked past them on the path. He heard one whisper if she was a foreigner.

"You love someone?" Jasper's sad expression lightened.

She nodded. "We've been through a lot, and we finally started dating after everything...then later that day we got the call that Lao Ye was sick and we came here the following day. And we're here indefinitely, so I don't even know when we're going back home to Paris."

Jasper noticed she was trying not to cry.

"Hey, it'll be okay," he grinned widely, and took her hand to guide her to a cart selling hot chocolate, hoping to cheer her up. He bought two, and they went to the nearest bench.

"I take it you suspect your grandmother's going to try to arrange a marriage between you and I, right?"

"I had a feeling," she shifted the cup in her hand before taking a sip.

"It can't work out of we're both adamantly opposed to it now, will it?" he winked and took a long sip of his cocoa. "I'm going to follow in your mother's footsteps and move to Paris to seek out my happiness. But I don't think I can do it alone. Will you help me?"

"You are?" Marinette nearly choked on her hot chocolate. "Of course I'll help!"

"Thanks Marinette," he beamed, his shoulder becoming visibly less tense, as if a weight was just lifted off them. "Anyway, who's this guy you're into?"

"Ahh, his name is Adrien Agreste," she brushed the back of her head nervously as she looked away at some birds feeding in the grass.

Jasper's eyes grew wide and he pulled out his phone. "Adrien Agreste, the fashion model and son of the designer Gabriel Agreste?"

Marinette turned her head to face him again. "Yeah, you've heard of him?"

Jasper pulled up his contacts, selected one, and showed her. It was his picture and his number on the screen.

"You know him?" she snatched his phone out of his hands and stared at the photo.

Jasper took it back with a laugh. "Know him? He's a good friend of mine. See?" he swiped his phone a few times and pulled up a photo of the two of them together just under the Arc de Triomphe. "Small world! He's told me so much about you. He was right about your kindness." He laughed and leaned back in the bench a little bit. Something caught his eye and Jasper's already smiling face grew wider. "Look up there," he pointed straight ahead to a billboard.

Adrien's latest ad was being displayed, his famous pose and bright green eyes stared back at them. Even though it was just a picture, his eyes still made her stomach flutter.

She felt more at ease now than she had since the phone call. As she looked up at it, and knowing she had a mutual friend of his sitting beside her, she couldn't help but feel so much better, and not so alone. "What a small world indeed."


	19. Chapter 19

Walking back to her grandparents apartment, after having stopped in at a restaurant for dinner, Jasper and Marinette continued discussing the plan they began concocting after their visit to the park.

She pulled out her phone and was greeted to Adrien's photo. He was asking for a video call.

Marinette cleared her throat and pressed the green talk button.  
"Hey!" she greeted, smile wide. "Did you just wake up? That's kind of late for you," she asked with fake surprise. She knew he would never be allowed to sleep in on a fully-scheduled day.

Adrien laughed once. "No, sadly I got dragged into something the moment I woke up and wasn't able to call you. I just now managed to get away. How did your day go?"

Marinette glanced to the side, over at Jasper who was standing just outside of the frame. "Better than expected. I came across someone that says he knows you."

"Really?" Adrien tilted his head slightly to the side. "Who?"

Jasper slid into view. "What's up, Agreste?" he greeted with a smirk.

"Jasper!" Adrien's mouth popped open and his eyebrows raised. "You two know each other?"

Marinette raised her eyebrow at Jasper, still grinning away into the camera lens. "It turns out our families go way back."

"Wow, seriously? What are the chances?"

Marinette shrugged with a shake of her head.

"You weren't exaggerating about Marinette, Adrien. I spent the entire day with her and she's just as you described her."

She blushed as she looked away from the camera. She had no idea Adrien talked about her. This had been before the identity reveal, too, Marinette had learned. The last time Jasper had been in France was an entire year prior.

"There are some things I need to talk to you about," Marinette said to Adrien as she turned her gaze back onto her phone. "There's a...situation here," she looked over and Jasper anxiously. "But we're going to take care of it, so don't worry."

"Things? What's wrong, Marinette?" Adrien's pleasant smile faded as he scooted closer to the camera. His expression shifted to one of frustration and worry.

"Uh-" she started with a nervous laugh when someone called her in the distance. Adrien couldn't hear it at first, but Marinette and Jasper's heads simultaneously turned to their right.

"Marinette, Jasper, I was so happy when I heard the news!" he heard a woman say.

"Oh no…" Marinette whispered, frantically looking at the camera then back towards the woman. "I'll call you later, okay?"

Adrien opened his mouth to reply when he heard the woman say in Mandarin "grandson-in-law" just before the video call was abruptly ended.

"Grandson-in-law?" he muttered to himself. He leaned back in his desk chair, trying to put together the bits of their brief conversation.

Something was clearly wrong, as Marinette looked very worried. And Jasper was there with her...how did he come into this? The whole situation seemed rather strange, and he wished more than anything he was in China with Marinette like he wanted in the first place.

Instead, he was still in Paris, and he was still limited on what he was allowed to do. He slammed some files down onto his desk with a groan, which prompted an amused comment from Plagg.

Later in the day, Adrien overheard on the news that there was some non-akuma related trouble brewing in Paris and went to investigate. He was greeted by Carapace and Rena Rouge.

"No Ladybug?" Carapace asked when Chat Noir arrived alone.

Chat Noir shook his head. "She'll be away...awhile…" he didn't make eye contact with either of the superheroes. Rena and Carapace glanced at each other, exchanging concerned looks.

"Is something wong, Chat?" Rena Rouge asked. From the second he arrived, she felt like there was something off with him. He wasn't his usual cheerful self, and that in itself was a crime to her.

Chat looked back over at his friends. Maybe he could talk to them? And it'd save him the trouble of having to face them as Adrien….

"Can we talk? You know, after we deal with the situation at hand."

"Of course," Carapace fist bumped Chat's shoulder. He smiled and gave them a brief thank you. Chat felt a little bit better already.

"Are you sure you're up for this?" Jaspered whispered to Marinette on the elevator ride, his eyebrows were bunched together.

She nodded after a moment. It would be difficult, and it could potentially cause a lot of trouble, but they didn't see any other option. Marinette and Jasper knew her grandparents and his parents would never hear them out and believe their words. So in order to truly have freedom and at the very least leave their family content with the result, they had to take action, and this required some drastic measures. She felt her heart speed up at the thought.

"I was so worried that you wouldn't agree," Marinette's grandmother gushed. "I hoped that if you two got to know each other today, you'd eventually see things my way, but oh the surprise when I got your phone call!"

Marinette shot her grandmother a fake smile when she turned towards her, but immediately let it go once her eyes were no longer on her.

"Before the wedding, we'd like to take a trip to Paris," Jasper announced as he glanced over at Marinette, who looked rather upset.

"We'll talk about that tomorrow, after the press conference!" her grandmother continued in her excited tone. Marinette could practically see her floating on air, she was so thrilled.

"What press conference?" she asked innocently.

"The one to announce your engagement, of course! You're the granddaughter of the CEO of Mystic Group, one of the biggest companies in China, and arguably all of Asia. Jasper's the son of a very prestigious family. Naturally, this would be major news."

The elevator stopped and opened its doors. Mrs. Cheng walked out of the elevator, yammering on as she continued down the hall, mainly to herself as the kids weren't listening. They instead hung back near the elevator.

"This is a disaster!" Marinette held her hand over her forehead, pinching her temples with her fingers. "What if Adrien sees it? There's already been one misunderstanding, I don't want there to be another."

"Call him," urged Jasper. "Quickly."

Marinette pulled her phone out, but before she could press send, her grandmother popped her head out and asked them to come in. Her parents were waiting inside, she just knew it, and they were going to be extremely worried. Her friends were going to find out. And Adrien….. She could deal with everything else for now, but above all, she had to explain to him first.

She started to feel panic rise within her as she eyed the open apartment door. Jasper got her attention and she took a deep breath. All she need to do was remember what and who she was doing this for. For Jasper, who was kind and fun to be around, who needed to know love, adventure, and happiness in his life. For her grandparents who were worried about their lifelong efforts being handed over to strangers who didn't have their best interests at heart. And for herself and Adrien, who had been through so much, both separately and together, and she would do whatever it took, fight with everything she had, to never let him go. She pictured his face in her mind with eyes closed and took a few breaths.

Slightly shaking, Marinette entered the apartment to begin the facade that she couldn't afford to break.


	20. Chapter 20

Whirlwind had shown up in his usual chaotic fashion, just as Chat, Carapace, and Rena wrapped up a civilian issue. It took forever for them to chase the villain out of the city, and an unfortunate result of his lingering were severe storms that would hang around awhile. They brought heavy rain, wind, and continuous bolts of lightning.

Exhausted, the three heroes found a sheltered spot on the rooftops, away from the brutal storm.

"He's getting harder to handle," Rena Rouge grumbled, wringing out her thick hair.

"We'll have to find a way to defeat him one of these days," said Carapace with a sigh as he sat down next to her. "But for now, what is it you wanted to talk about, Chat Noir?"

Rena stopped trying to rid her hair of water, her fox ears perking up a bit.

Chat scratched the back of his neck nervously as he thought of how to begin, then he took a deep breath.

"What would the two of you do if you had to be away from each other, indefinitely, with hectic schedules?" his cat ears drooped as he asked his question.

Rena and Carapace exchanged glances. "Oh, Kitty," her eyebrows knit together as she reached out to rest a hand on Chat's shoulder. "She'll be back."

He sighed.

"What, you don't think she will?" Carapace sat with his elbow resting on his knee.

"I don't know. Maybe it's just my fear talking. We've been through so much over the years, and just when things actually start to fall into place… she slips away again. And the situation is a bit complicated…"

"Ladybug will be back. She's _Ladybug_ , she'd never abandon Paris. Besides, we all can see just how much she loves and cares about you. You're her Kitty after all," she messed his hair up as she laughed lightly.

"But… there's a family problem involved. I'm worried it'll come down to picking me and Paris over her family, and... " he closed his mouth before he could say anymore. Maybe talking to them as Alya and Nino would've been better after all. Too late for that now. Chat sighed, shifting his eyes away from them.

Carapace gave him a small, reassuring smile. "I may not have known Ladybug for as long or as well as you do, but I know she takes her responsibility seriously as a superhero. She may feel responsible for her family, too, but she's very righteous, and would put protecting the people first above what her family would want from her."

"Not to mention, I really don't think she'd be able to leave you behind, Chat. You might not be able to see it, but the rest of Paris can see how much she cares for and about you. As a superhero friend who has been fighting alongside you both, I know that whenever you haven't shown up in the past, although Ladybug does manage to save the day anyway, she just doesn't seem… complete without you there. There's something off about her, and when you do show up, her face lights up like the Eiffel Tower. You have to trust her and have faith she'll come home," added Rena.

He thought about their words all the way home in the rain that refused to let up.

Marinette was calling Adrien for the 16th time. His phone was on, but she reached his voicemail at the end of each call.

"He's not picking up?" asked Jasper, who was keeping watch for Marinette's grandmother.

She shook her head.

"He has his phone on though, right?"

"Yes, it rings several times before going to voicemail," she replied, calling him again.

Jasper sighed. "Not a good time to be busy, Agreste," he mumbled to himself while tapping his foot on the hard floor. Then he caught a glimpse of Mrs. Cheng heading their way. "She's coming!" he whispered urgently.

Marinette abruptly hung up the phone, the line just reaching Adrien's voicemail. "Great. We'll have to worry about Adrien later. I don't know what I'm supposed to do at one of these thing," Marinette bit her lip.

"Smile and nod. You're French, so it's understandable that you'd know little to no Mandarin. I'll translate any questions they direct at you, but I'll do my best so you'll have minimum interaction with the press. What's most important to them and your grandmother, is that you're present and polite. Don't worry about anything else," Jasper rushed out, just in time for Mrs. Cheng to be in hearing range.

"Here you two are. You mustn't be late," she guided them briskly down the long hallway and through the heavy metal doors, leading them into the large room, completely packed with people. They almost all spoke Mandarin. It felt strange, as the language was familiar, but she barely managed to make out a word or phrase among the quick chatter.

Cameras flashed and the crowd noise lowered to a hum. Coughs were beginning to be heard throughout the room.

Marinette tried to think of it as if she was Ladybug with her team, just waiting to be the one they asked questions to. But she couldn't help but feel extremely nervous, and it wasn't because she didn't have a mask hiding her identity.

She was lying. She was lying to her grandmother. To Jasper's parents. To the Chinese and International Press. It went against everything she valued. Would Adrien believe her lie if he found out about it before she could explain? Would he believe her even if she did? Marinette almost backed out as all these thoughts swirled around in her head.

Then she looked over at Jasper. She hadn't known him long at all, but for some reason, she felt like she's known him her whole life. He was kind, curious about the world. Jasper longed for a life he could never have here in Shanghai. He wanted a chance to experience love. She realized that Jasper wasn't unlike Adrien at all. Marinette could never take away her promise she had given him, and she felt if Adrien were here, he'd do what he could to help his friend, too. She had to be firm and see this through until the end.

Attention shifted onto her, the clicking of camera shutters and the sudden increase of blinding lights keyed her in on her being the next one to speak.

Jasper hid his displeasure from the crowd and leaned in. "They're asking what made you, a Chinese woman brought up simply in the heart of Paris, unfamiliar with China and its culture, agree to an arranged marriage?" By his tone, he sounded tense.

Marinette didn't like their choice of wording. But she knew better than to lie. She took a deep breath. "I agreed to this arrangement because I want to help my family and Jasper," she paused to let Jasper translate for her. "I'm sure you're all aware of the history between the Ji and Cheng families. I believe it's up to Jasper and I to repair the damage that was caused, and start building new foundation for the future of our families."

The press began pressing for more information from Marinette, but Jasper stepped in and took the bulk of their questions instead. Once it was over, they were whisked away to a room in the back. Marinette's parents stood in the side of the room, very uncomfortable by the situation. But they trusted their daughter. She gave them a confident look and a nod, easing their anxiety a bit, before she sat down next to Jasper on the sofa.

"Paris," Marinette whispered to him, too quiet and subtle for Mrs. Cheng to notice.

Jasper's parents walked in and introduced themselves. Mr. Ji looked at Sabine with a familiar but stern glance.

"We would like to visit Paris for a few days, if you don't mind," began Jasper. "The day that the wedding is set to take place is soon, and I think Marinette deserves to go home for awhile, especially when she had no knowledge of Mrs. Cheng's proposal prior to her visit here."

The elders looked extremely nervous, their eyes glancing over at Sabine.

"I don't think that's such a good idea," Mr. Ji spoke out.

Jasper's eyebrows furrowed. "It was my idea, Father, not Marinette's. And I wasn't intending for her to go to Paris alone, I'm going with her. I have business to take care of there and I thought it was a good opportunity for us to spend some time together."

"Well...as it was your idea, and you two will be going together, I suppose I don't have reason to object," said Mr. Ji.

"And if you don't have an issue with them going, neither do I. You two are free to visit, the day after tomorrow. Your grandfather's coming home from the hospital tomorrow morning and I need you there to greet him."

Marinette nodded politely. At least seeing him home and feeling a bit better was something to look forward to.

After being sent back to the apartment to rest for the following day, Marinette continued to try calling Adrien, but she still couldn't manage to get through. She had left a message for him earlier, to call her as soon as possible, but hadn't received a call back. When it grew too late for phone calls, she shut off her phone and turned in for the night.

About half an hour later, the storms in Paris had cleared and Adrien was free from work for the day. He saw Marinette's long list of missed calls and heard her urgent voicemail. He called her once, but her phone went straight to voicemail. Checking the time, he realized she must've shut it off for the night.

He groaned, leaning his head back on his head board.

"What's wrong?" asked Plagg, taking a peek at his phone.

Adrien put his phone screen-down on the bed. "She kept trying to reach me while we were transformed. She even left an urgent message, asking to call her back when I heard it. But with everything today, I heard it too late. Her phone's off and she's probably asleep now."

"Just call her in the morning, I'm sure it's nothing serious," Plagg shrugged off.

Plagg's words did nothing to soothe Adrien's racing mind. In fact, something about his tone made him all the more anxious to hear from her that everything was alright.


	21. Chapter 21

Three full weeks had passed since Adrien had received the phone calls from Marinette. For some reason, whenever he tried to call her, it automatically went to voicemail. She hadn't attempted to reach him since, either..

He was extremely antsy, and just about hopped on a plane to Shanghai when Alya called him, letting him know she heard from her mom that Marinette was currently at the Grand Paris Hotel.

He was puzzled as to why she'd refuse to pick up his calls, and didn't bother informing him that she was back in Paris. It didn't matter much to Adrien though. He grabbed his coat, his keys, and made sure Plagg was tucked away before jetting out the door.

It took Adrien several minutes to get to the hotel by car. He parked along the side of the road right out front and rushed in. But when he asked the woman at the counter where she was, he hit a bit of a snag.

"I'm sorry, I've been told Miss Dupain-Cheng is not to be disturbed."

Adrien cleared his throat, trying to calm himself down. "May I ask, who gave you that order?"

"Mrs. Cheng gave the order."

He took a step back from the counter, pondering his next move. "Okay, thank you."

If Adrien couldn't get in, Chat Noir could. He smiled to himself deviously while he looked for a place to transform.

"Using your power to see your girlfriend? Nice," Plagg praised him. "I've taught you so well."

"I have to find out what's going on, Plagg."

Plagg sighed. "I know, I know. It's been driving you batty all week. If you hadn't thought of it yourself, I would've begged you to. I can't take it anymore! Do you know you talk in your sleep?"

Adrien blinked. "No. I do?"

"Ugh, yes, you do. _'Marinette,'_ " Plagg proceeded to imitate a sleeping Adrien. " _'Marinette, please don't gooo! M'Lady, come back, I miss you! We still have to get our hamster that we'll name -!'_ "

"Okay, enough!" Adrien interrupted, his face a rosy pink.

"What's with you and a hamster, anyway? You always go off about it in your sleep."

Adrien clenched his teeth. "No comment. Can we get around to transforming now?"

Plagg snickered.

"Plagg, claws out!"

Chat Noir could get in anywhere. It didn't matter that the woman wouldn't tell him, he'd look for her himself, and nobody would dare stop him.

After searching the first floor, and half of the second, he saw Marinette leave one of the rooms, looking weary and disheartened. Chat Noir stopped on the spot, a wide grin spread across his face.

"Marinette!" he called.

She lifted her head to see who called her name, and it was as if everything was right in the world again. Her expression brightened like the sun breaking through the clouds.  
Without having to even think about it, Marinette ran down the hall, closing the distance between them until she flung herself into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck. He heard her sigh happily.

"You're back," he ran his clawed hand through her hair.

"I'm so sorry, I wanted to tell you, but…" she trailed off, her body tensing. Marinette let out an annoyed grumble and let him go. "I have to talk to you, but we can't do so here. Give me a minute to transform and we'll go somewhere, okay?"

"Alright," he agreed.

Before she was more than an arms length away from him, he took her hand in his. When she turned around, they exchanged a look, no words had to be spoken. Just a glance was needed to understand that he was telling her how much he loved and missed her. She smiled and looked down at the floor with embarrassment, then went to find a secluded spot to become Ladybug for the first time in what she felt was much too long.

Ladybug led Chat Noir to a spot they frequented, one where they wouldn't be bothered by anyone. She hugged him again, this time without saying a word. Ladybug stayed in Chat's arms, unwilling to move. But she had to explain to him why she went off the grid for so long. She cradled his face in her hands. "It's kind of a long story," she began. "It started before I was even born, before my mom came to Paris. Jasper's dad was supposed to marry my mom, but my mom ran away and stayed in Paris when she met my dad. Since it was an arranged marriage, my grandparents, particularly my grandmother, disowned her. Fast forward to now, my grandma wants us to make up for it with me marrying Jasper."

Chat Noir looked horrified as he took in what she was saying. "Is that why I heard her call him her grandson-in-law? You're not actually going to marry Jasper, are you?"

"Don't worry, I'm not marrying Jasper," she insisted, taking his hands. "We're faking everything. The press conferences, putting up an act in front of her. I was trying to call you that day, but I guess the time difference and our schedules conflicted. The next morning, my grandmother made sure I didn't have any interruptions and took my phone from me. It's been a difficult three weeks to say the least."

Chat Noir nodded as he took a breath to calm down. "But how is this going to help matters?"

"Both of our families think this will help both of our businesses, but Jasper and I are working out a way to help both without marriage being involved. For that alone, I wouldn't have agreed to this, but Jasper needs my help, too."

"What's wrong with Jasper?"

Ladybug's expression grew sad. "He's like my mom was, and like you were. Jasper wants to live his life and find his happiness, but his family is keeping him trapped in the life they want for him instead. I couldn't knowingly walk away from him when he reached out for my help, especially not after knowing you. He doesn't deserve that."

Chat Noir leaned his forehead on hers and laughed. "No, he doesn't. Of course you have to help him, you wouldn't be you if you didn't."

"I'm sorry about all of this, it wasn't fair for you. And I'm already going to have to leave you again, my grandmother's going to start looking for me, I was only supposed to head home to grab something."

His shoulders slumped, but he understood. "By the way, I forgot to ask, how is your grandfather doing?"

"He's doing much better, he was released from the hospital last week. Our trip to Paris is supposed to only be for a couple of days, as per Jasper and I's request, so my grandma can get back to him. So we have to get things settled quickly or things are going to get complicated."

Chat kicked the ground. "Does she still have your cell phone?"

Ladybug nodded.

"Then meet me on the roof of the hotel after she's gone to bed."

"What? Why?"

He smirked and wiggled his eyebrows playfully. "Tonight," he reminded, before she watched him take off and fade out of sight.

* * *

 **Please let me know what you thought of this chapter by leaving a review, favoriting, and following the story! c:**


	22. Chapter 22

Only after she heard her grandmother's slow rhythmic breathing on the other side of her bedroom door, did Marinette transform and sneak out.

When she got on the roof, Chat Noir was waiting for her, his golden hair glowing in the moonlight.

"I bet tonight's made you feel like a teenager again, huh?" Chat joked. "Sneaking out in the middle of the night as Ladybug, your family unaware of everything..."

Ladybug laughed. "I'd much rather be a teenager, simply sneaking out to save the day, instead of being in the situation I'm in now. I have to say, having a taste of what my mom had to grow up with," she shook her head as she tried to find the words. "I don't blame her at all for running away and settling in Paris."

"Good news. I can take you back," he winked, his toothy grin spreading wide across his face. "Do you trust me?"

She looked down at his hand, reaching out for her to take. She smiled. "With my life." ****

Something about hearing that declaration caused him to blush profusely. He cleared his throat awkwardly. "It's a surprise, so I'll have to carry you there. Shut your eyes."  
Chat picked her up, holding her bridal style in his arms. "Are your eyes closed?"

"They're closed," Ladybug answered, the corner of her mouth stretching up in a half-grin.

"Good," he said. She felt the breeze in her hair as he hopped between buildings. Only seconds later, he was putting her down. "Don't open your eyes yet."

He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and took her hand with his free one, guiding her along.  
With a pleased sigh, he instructed her to open them.

Slowly, she did as he asked. What greeted her made her beam.

It was familiar, and as he promised, the sight took her back to her days as a teenager.

Soft candlelight glowed beautifully against the dark backdrop, its light calming and inviting. There were roses carefully placed around each one, and petals were sprawled out everywhere. He even included a blanket and some baked goods for their little picnic.

"This is just like that picnic you put together when we were kids," she gaped as she approached one of the candles. "It's so beautiful."

"Only this time I hope you don't turn me down for another guy," he laughed, mostly joking but he'd be lying to himself if he didn't sometimes doubt her feelings.

"What if I did?" she asked playfully as she sat down next to the food, across from him.

Chat's smile faded.  
"There _is_ someone I'd turn Chat Noir down for…." Ladybug trailed off, looking at him out the corner of her eye.

Chat Noir felt his heart stop, then suddenly go off in his chest like a jackhammer. His lack of verbal response caught her attention.

Ladybug turned her head quickly, seeing Chat Noir's face suddenly gone pale and his eyes wide. "Oh, Kitty, I was just teasing! The only one I'd turn Chat Noir down for is Adrien."

He heard the name, but for some reason, it just wasn't registering in his brain that she was talking about himself. Chat Noir remained standing there, completely stiff.

She sighed and took the few steps that stood between them. "Hey, look at me," she whispered. Ladybug got on her toes and brought his head down enough to be level with hers. "There is _no one else_ except you. Not a single one. You've been the only one that's had my heart all these years."

"What about Luka?" He blurted out. Chat Noir didn't even realize that Luka was even a concern of his, but ever since they were young, he knew they were close. Even now, whenever he's back in town for a visit, they always make sure to meet up.

"Luka?" She blinked.

"You two are close, and have been for a long time and I just…" he trailed off, unwilling to finish.

"That boy I told you about that night was _Adrien,_ not Luka," she stroked his cheek with her thumb. "And Luka's actually the reason why I was so sure there would never be anybody else _but_ you."

"...What?" that made absolutely no sense to Chat Noir.

"Luka is...one of the sweetest, most understanding and attentive guys I have ever met. But as great as he is, and as much as I thought moving on from you was best, I just couldn't feel that way about him. You were always there. And I thought to myself, if I can't fall for someone like him and still be so stuck on you, that I just had to accept it, even if you didn't feel the same way about me as I did you."

"So you didn't like Luka?"

"No, I did…" she shifted her stance, slightly uncomfortable. "But it wasn't love. Like you and Kagami for example. How did you feel about her?"

"I thought she was great. Cool, talented, pretty. But I never loved her. Plagg had suggested after…" he stopped himself, editing what he was going to say just a little. "Well he thought since it didn't look like Ladybug was interested in me, that I go out with someone else. I had just spoken with Kagami earlier that day, so she seemed like the best option at the time."

"I always thought Adrien liked Kagami," admitted Ladybug.

"And I always thought Ladybug liked some guy I didn't know, and Marinette was into Luka. And Gage. And possibly other guys I had never met."

The two were silent for a few moments. Then they laughed.

When Ladybug stopped, she gave her partner a meaningful look."Hey, from now on, if we're feeling insecure or worried about anything, we talk to each other about it. Okay?"

"Deal," he beamed, holding his hand out for a 'Pound it!' "But you do have to be careful."

"Why?"

"Every guy in Paris is in love with Ladybug, and every guy that gets to know Marinette falls for her."

"I can understand the Ladybug thing, but really? Aren't you exaggerating a bit, Kitty?"

Chat snorted. "Yeah, no. I'm one hundred purrcent serious, m'lady. Nino, Nathaniel, Gage, Luka, me, just to name a few, you know, _that I know of._ "

"Oh… I never really noticed," she gave a nervous laugh as she took a large bite of a Choux pastry.

"Which is why I'm asking you to be careful, more aware m'lady... Maybe it's because I was a teen model and got a lot of unwanted attention so I was hyperaware of it all, so I've had years to figure out how to get out of situations like that quickly. But you haven't, and that worries me. I don't think either of us wants my jealous side to make an appearance again anytime soon."

She remembered her days back in school, when all the girls used to surround him and follow him around. That always made her angry. Even though they were together now, and she trusted Adrien, she knows it would still get under her skin. Of course he wouldn't like it if it was reversed, and she knew how he got when he was jealous.

"Okay, I promise I will be careful and pay attention. But just to be clear, Jasper's a bit different. You know, given the circumstance."

"Oh yeah, of course. I wasn't thinking of him at all. Jasper's not the type to go after his friends girlfriend. Plus, I think he's more concerned about starting a new life than trying to find a girlfriend."

Ladybug smiled, but it grew sad.

"What's wrong?" he asked her once her face fell. He scooted closer to her and interlocked his pinky with hers.

"I just hope everything will go well tomorrow, and that everyone will end the day on a positive note," she kept her eyes focused on one of the flames.

Chat Noir grinned and let out a laugh, causing Ladybug to break from her thoughts. She turned to him with a quizzical look on her face.

"I have never seen anyone pull off such amazing feats - and do what others would think are impossible - but you. If your plan doesn't work tomorrow, then _nobody_ could pull it off. Even if your plan doesn't work, I'm sure you'll come up with something on the fly. Don't doubt yourself, my Bugaboo," he wrapped his arm around her and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

Ladybug giggled. "Wanna know a secret?"

"Curiosity killed the cat. Of course I do."

She couldn't help but laugh at his remark. "Well, ever since I've known you - both sides of you - whenever I've been upset about anything, only you would be able to make me feel confident or alright again."

Chat Noir gave her a curious glance. "Really?"

She nodded. "Whenever I have any doubt, you always know just what to say. Or maybe it's just because it's you. Either way, thank you. For being you."

He let out a slight gasp in surprise, then half his mouth stretched up. "As long as you want me around, I'll be a loyal cat, driving you crazy until you get sick of me."

"Don't hold your breath," she said. "I've dealt with all of your shenanigans and sense of humor for years. You're not going to be able to chase me away, Kitty."

Chat was quiet for a moment. "Can I let you in on a secret of my own?" he asked, then without giving her enough time to respond, he continued. "I've wanted to hear those words for a very long time."

Ladybug snuggled up to him, wrapping both her arms around him, her head leaning on his chest.  
She heard a low, rhythmic and continuous rumbling emit from his chest.

Ladybug smiled to herself. She almost told him she actually missed his purring. _Almost._


	23. Chapter 23

Before Ladybug went back to her room, Chat Noir slipped her a phone so she could reach him, and be reached, if necessary.

She spent the next two hours tossing and turning, worrying about the following day, before sleep found her.

When Marinette had opened her eyes that morning to the bright sunlight, she had a feeling of dread that took her mind a little longer than it should to figure out. But once it had…

"Ohhh," Marinette moaned, covering her eyes with her hands. "I really don't want to do this today."

Tikki, who had been sleeping on her stomach, woke up and flew to comfort her.  
"It'll work out," she assured, rubbing her little hand soothingly on Marinette's cheek. "Just think: the sooner you get everything sorted out, the sooner you get to go back to your life!"

"I know," Marinette sighed. "I just… I'm wondering if this really was the right thing to do."

Tikki blinked, waiting for her to continue.

"If I would've just kept to myself and not jump head first into this plan, I wouldn't have lied to my grandmother and potentially betrayed her and -"

"But Marinette, your grandmother would've kept bothering you. She doesn't seem the type to take no for an answer! Especially not after what happened with your mom. And of course, because you're you, you had to do this. You always want to help people that need it. You took the path that will help both your grandmother and Jasper. No matter what, you would've ended up going out of your way to help them. "

"You're right," she took a deep breath. "But I've never had to do anything like this before, so I'm a bit worried."

Tikki floated over to Marinette's hands and sat comfily in them.

"Just pretend like it's just another day fighting an akuma, okay?"

Marinette relaxed and gave a nod. "You're right, it'll be just fine," she said confidently. "...I think."

On the way downstairs, Marinette repeated over and over to herself that things would be fine, that Jasper would be with her the entire time for support and Adrien knew all about what was going on and didn't have to worry about anymore misunderstandings. Everything would be alright as long as she had them.

Marinette was met by Jasper near the door that led into the conference room of the Grand Paris. They walked in the room together, Jasper's hand guiding her in. They were greeted by the Parisian press as well as Chinese and other international members.

She exchanged a nervous glance with Jasper, who gave her a nod of encouragement, and they sat down at the table.

"Hello, I'm Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the granddaughter of Cheng Zhi Ruo, CEO of Mystic Group, and Cheng Feng Mian. I've invited you all to this press conference today to announce that our family company and Mr. Ji's, Ji International, will be collaborating on a large project currently underway. The paperwork has been signed already. These changes will bring positive things to come for both companies as we work closely together from here on out. This isn't the only news I have to share with you, however." Marinette paused as she let the first bit of her small speech sink in. People chatted quickly among themselves in the audience. She glanced at her grandmother's face, and then Mr. and Mrs. Ji. They were simply puzzled, waiting for her to continue. She knew their faces would change in an instant after she uttered these next words. Marinette took a deep breath.

"Jasper and I…will not be getting married," she said firmly.

As expected, the room was suddenly in an uproar. Camera's were clicking a mile a minute, multiple languages were being screamed at her. She dared a glance over at her grandmother and she had never seen her looking so angry. The tense atmosphere put her on edge, this was perfect conditions for an akuma, and with the way her grandmother and his parents looked, a triple akumatization certainly wasn't far away.

"Please! Please, let me explain!" she cried into the microphone. The room calmed down slightly, enough for her to be heard. Their family members were the only ones appearing very angry. Marinette's grandmother looked like she wanted to walk up and drag her away at that moment. "The reason we lied about it is because we wanted to help our families out, and I wanted to help Jasper, too." Marinette exchanged a look with him, then turned back to the press. "We wanted both companies - both families - to be willing to work closely together, to rely on each other with nothing but trust and respect, but the only way both sides would be comfortable with that is if we were to get married. But neither one of us are okay with that arrangement."

"I asked for Marinette's help," Jasper cut in. "I wanted to be freed from my life in China, where I didn't know what I want to do with the rest of my life. Where I'm not happy. From where I want to go out and see the world and learn what love is supposed to be like. Not arranged, where I have to marry someone simply because they'll help our already prosperous business flourish. This is not my resignation from Ji International, please don't misunderstand, but this is me announcing my vacation from work. I will be spending the next couple of months here in Paris. I will be checking in with the company throughout my time here at our French branch, but I will be focusing on finding myself and spending time with my friends here."

"I also want to make it clear that there is nothing between Jasper and I," Marinette started up again. "As I already have a boyfriend whom I love very much," her expression grew soft, and an unintentional, sweet smile formed on her lips.

"Who is he?" one of the Press asked, camera's flashes increasing. Others began shouting various questions to that and in different languages.

She thought about it a moment. Knowing Adrien, he'd be beyond thrilled for the world to know about them. His dad already knew and had approved of them. And if her grandmother knew that she was with someone who is in a good, stable position, who is even known all the way in China… she had much less of a chance of getting upset and cutting ties with her and her mom.

"I'm dating Adrien Agreste."

Silence filled the room momentarily before there was a roar of cameras and voices.

"Adrien Agreste as in the model, son of fashion designer Gabriel Agreste?"

"Yes," Marinette answered proudly.

The press began hounding her with other questions, all of which about her personal relationship with Adrien. Some of them were good questions, some of them were offensive. Jasper stood up and cut them off, as this wasn't the point of the press conference. "No more questions," he told the crowd. The two of them left the room, their families following behind them.

"Marinette!" her grandmother said sternly.

"...Yes Grandmother?"

"We are going to discuss this up in my room with Jasper and his parents." The look on her face made Marinette want to shrink back and run.

"Please give us a minute, Mrs. Cheng."

She huffed but said no more. Jasper's parents followed her upstairs, neither looking pleased with the situation, and that was an understatement.


	24. Chapter 24

Adrien left his television on as he rushed out of the house. Traveling by car just wasn't fast enough, so he swiftly ducked behind a tree, transformed, then began vaulting towards the Grand Paris.

There was just something about hearing Marinette's confession on a live broadcast to the entire world about her feelings for him. Everyone knows about them now. And her embarrassed smile and tinge of blush was just so _adorable_. It was a dream come true.

Elation flooded him as he jumped from building to building, but there was a pit in his stomach that was in the process of settling there that was threatening his good feeling. He knew Marinette was probably in the middle of getting scolded by her grandmother, and he could only imagine how bad that may be. If there was a serious problem to arise from her choosing Adrien over her family, it would be all his fault.

Chat Noir landed on the roof of the hotel and entered the building. He rushed down the stair cases until he reached the floor he knew Marinette was staying on with her grandmother. He paused to catch his breath.

"Plagg, claws out," he breathed when he noticed the coast was clear.

"What are you going to do?" Plagg asked.

"I'm going to make sure she doesn't regret choosing me," Adrien answered simply.

"Marinette, how could you embarrass your grandfather and I like that?" Mrs. Cheng had her arms tightly crossed over her chest. "And to Mr. and Mrs. Ji, too! Do you understand the gravity of the situation, or have any idea of the damage you've caused?"

"Mrs. Cheng, please don't blame Marinette, I was the one that asked for her help."

"Jasper, please don't cover for her. My granddaughter is too much like her mother," she turned to her and shot her a look of disapproval. Marinette played with her hands nervously. "We've hurt your family again. I offer my most sincere apologies. As does Marinette."

"Oh! Yes, I'm so sorry for the trouble I've caused you," she bowed deeply. "But I also can't say I'm sorry that I did it."

"Marinette!" her grandmother warned. "Watch your tongue!"

She tried to ignore her and took a deep breath. "What you're hoping for is to bring success and prosperity to your business, but did you know that the very best chance you have for that to happen is with your son's happiness?"

Jasper's parents exchanged surprised looks.

"By forcing a marriage onto him, especially one where both sides are unhappy and against it, that'll just lead to potential scandals in the future that would bring unnecessary negative attention to your business. But if your son is happy and thriving, he'll have the drive and motivation to work hard for what he loves. Mr. and Mrs Ji, he truly deserves to find happiness."

"You do have a point," Mr. Ji replied, glancing at his wife. "I don't want my son to feel that same heaviness and pressure I felt, having to forcefully settle down."

"We accepted the decision due to our circumstances, but clearly Jasper wants more than that," Mrs. Ji affectionately grabbed her sons hand. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"I… didn't think it'd be acceptable to tell you," Jasper answered honestly. His jaw was tense and he avoided eye contact.

"We'll talk about this later," his mother assured him. "For now, Mrs. Cheng, I believe it's us who should be apologizing to you."

Mrs. Cheng silently stood there unhappily, her arms still crossed as she thought of what to say.

A sudden knock was heard at the door, Jasper walked the few steps to answer it.

"Adrien?"

"May I come in?" he wore a nervous smile as his eyes darted into the room.

Jasper glanced back before deciding. "Alright, but I must warn you," he stuck his head out the door and whispered, "Mrs. Cheng is really angry. She's only holding off because my parents and I are here. See if you can help the situation, hm?" he clapped his friend on the back and threw the door open for him.

"Adrien Agreste is here," Jasper introduced him.

"Oh, so this is Marinette's boyfriend?" Mrs. Ji said with a warm smile. "Jasper's told us so much about you from his last trip to Paris."

"Ahem, it looks like you all have some things to talk about with your guest, so we'll leave you to it," Mr. Ji said, slightly uncomfortable with the entire situation. He headed for the door.

"Actually sir, I've come to talk to you and Mrs. Cheng."

Both Mr. Ji and Mrs. Cheng's expressions were replaced with shock. "Us?"

"Yes. Marinette and Jasper have talked to me about the situation, and from the sound of things, you wanted this marriage to take place because of a business deal, correct?"

Marinette blinked.

Then Adrien launched into the conversation in Mandarin, which surprised everybody in the room, apart from Jasper. Marinette knew he spoke Chinese, but it was an entirely different matter to hear him speaking so fluently in such a professional manner. Of course, she was completely lost at what he was saying, and looking to Jasper for a translation wasn't possible at the time. However, she knew things were going well when her grandmother's tense expression changed from guarded and stern, to loose and even a bit pleased. It was an unusual expression for her.

By the end of their conversation, Mrs. Cheng and Adrien were speaking as if old friends, shaking hands, probably to seal an agreement. Adrien turned to face Marinette for the first time since he arrived, and his features went soft.

"Marinette, have Adrien take you home," her grandmother said, much more gentle than she had ever heard her speak.

"Oh - Yes, Grandmother."

Marinette said goodbye to Jasper and his parents, then was led out of the room by Adrien.

"What did you say?" she asked, completely astonished.

Adrien smirked. "I pulled out all the stops. Not only did I need to try to get her attention off of you about what happened, I needed to get her approval of me as well."

"How…?"

"You know how my father's been having me learn Chinese for years? There was a reason for that. The textile market in China is huge. Since he has always intended for me to inherit his business, he wanted me to be prepared to communicate with different regions, especially with China. How fortunate it was that your grandparents own one of the largest Chinese textile companies?"

"Oh wow, that was why he had you learning Chinese? I always thought it seemed a bit random. Anyway, I still don't understand why my grandma was actually _happy_. She was only happy like that when she heard I was marrying Jasper."

Adrien's smirk grew, but he said nothing.

"...What did you say?" Marinette's eyes narrowed, her tone accusatory.

"Maybe I, to lighten the blow with all I have to offer, asked to marry you instead in his place." Adrien watched her eyes grow wide as she froze in place. He leaned in close to her ear and added breathily, "I am quite the _cat_ ch."

"Adrien!" she shrieked as she shoved him away, her face gone tomato red. "Please tell me you didn't!"

"Why not? You don't want to marry me?"

"N-n-not like that!" she stuttered. They had just started dating, though of course it's not like she hadn't thought of this a million and one times since she was a teenager… "I don't want to get married just to please my grandmother."

Adrien chuckled. "I was just kidding, Marinette. I actually arranged a meeting between her and my father for collaborations. However, she did bring up the topic of marriage and I told her that was something that you and I would discuss and decide on later."

Marinette's frantically beating heart began to slow down, though her face was still hot. "Oh."

"Disappointed?"

"No," she said sharply. "Anyway, I'm ready to finally go home," she started heading towards the elevator.

"Actually...mind if you take a bit of a detour with me?"

"What kind of detour?"

Adrien took her hand. "You'll see. But this one requires we leave from the roof."

Ladybug followed Chat Noir, she had no idea where they were going.  
They didn't get far when Chat Noir stopped. "Do you recognize this?"

She was confused, it was just a random street. "No…?"

"Let me see if I can jog your memory." Chat Noir moved his baton horizontally and extended it, so it was firmly in place between the buildings on either side of the street. He then began to walk across it like a balance beam.

Ladybug still looked confused.

"You came flying from over there," he pointed towards the direction of her home. "And crashed into me as we dangled over the street. That was the first time we ever met."

She recalled the memory. He was right, that was in fact the first time that they had met. She hadn't met Adrien until the following day.

"That moment told us that we were meant to be together, before either of us even had feelings for each other. I want you to know that just like that day, no matter what happens with Hawk Moth or Whirlwind or our team, it will always be you that I follow blindly. I'll be the one you can forever rely on when you need someone. No matter if it's to save the world with you, or just to be there when you're having a bad day and you need a shoulder. Whatever you need from me, I'll be."

These words, along with all the words he's ever said to her, as both Chat Noir to Ladybug, or Adrien to Marinette, well before they ever knew of their identities, came to mind. So many times has Chat told her this much. So many times has Adrien jumped in to save her, risking himself to protect her. There was not a soul out there as loyal and kind as he was.

Wordlessly, Ladybug walked onto Chat's baton, her eyes set on his as she stepped closer.

"How is it that I'm so lucky to have you?" she whispered.

Chat Noir breathed a laugh. "You're your own Lucky Charm, m'lady. You bring luck to whatever or whoever you touch. It's we who are lucky to have you."

She slid her hand into his, their fingers intertwining. "I still think I'm the luckiest one of all," she stood on her tiptoes, keeping perfectly balanced. With her free hand, she gently pulled his head down towards her, her lips hesitating briefly before the kiss. Every movement, every time they'd break apart and come together again, took her further away from reality. She forgot she was five stories above the ground, balancing on a thin metal pole. Or that likely there were people watching them now, taking pictures to share with all of Paris. None of that mattered.

A loud rumble of thunder eventually brought them back.

Ladybug loosened her grip on Chat's hair. "Whirlwind's timing…" she groaned.

"Evil cares for no-one," he reminded her. "But we should thank him, he helped bring us together."

She laughed. "Sure. Will you save Paris with me then, Kitty?"

"Nothing could keep me away, Bugaboo," he beamed.


End file.
